Cath’s novel ch.1-30 (abandoned)

[Cath]

Chapter 14: Schemes

   The victory parade took some time, with lord Olf Premer who had decided to give a lengthy speech about honour and bravery and to thank both the city guards and the Herikfer fleet who came to their rescue. The city ruler spoke in front of a huge crowd from his balcony, accompanied by his right hand man Merdosa Picha and by the fleet Admiral Afarin Hol, both didn't seem to be happy but the people couldn't see their frown. After what felt like an eternity, Olf ended his speech.

   "Long live King Hedi!" He declared, raising his arms in the air.

   His citizens applauded and cheered but quickly dispersed when the lord decided to retreat in his castle. The man was getting tired of his tirade and preferred going for the real festivities inside his dining hall, where a crowd of his liking was already waiting for his arrival. They all revered to him with a bow before personally thanking him for inviting them. There were a lot of minor nobles of the city and from its surrounding, most of them had directly participated in the defences and all of them had casualties among their own troops. The rest of the guests were captains of the city guards and some navy officers from Afarin's fleet who decided to take a break from the sea. The absent captains were either restocking their ship or visiting some ladies of the night. The lord sat at the centre of the main table and raised his cup.

   "To you, the saviours of Premer." He declared before taking a sip, prompting the music band to start playing.

   The wine tasted bitter with a vague feeling of sweetness, Olf savoured the liquid with an approving grin. Unbeknownst to the ruler, his right hand man along with a few nobles had cornered the admiral who didn't even have time to get something to drink, eyeing the cask of expensive wine with a bit of disappointment.

   "Ahas like you shouldn't be in command of the royal fleet." Picha started, almost spitting in the officer's face, his breath reeking of booze.

   Afarin didn't look impressed by his remark but she was still scared of being surrounded by hostile faces, something about them made her weary. And yet, getting belittled for being any kind of mixed blood was pretty common throughout the kingdom, though being in a high position was often enough to stop it, at least, for being so upfront. The nobles were all much older than her who was in her mid thirties despite her white strands of hair, most of them had pepper coloured beards but all had the same wine filled breath and hateful glare. Despite being sober, she was swaying from both the peer pressure and the sea legs which was typical of seamen. Thankfully, a passing servant gave the opportunity to the woman to swoop a cup of Premer wine.

   "Well, here I am, saving your city." She replied with a fake disdain in her voice though it sounded more like drunken rambling. "How does it feel to be saved by a mixed blood?"

   Picha managed to stop him and his goons to punch her smug face but he couldn't help himself to slap down Afarin’s cup of wine on the floor. Afarin held a whine as she watched the precious liquid spill on the wooden parquet.

   "I know how you work, you just bark but you don't bite. If it wasn’t for your father's connections, you wouldn't be where you are." Picha spat with the snicker of the lesser nobles at his side.

   Afarin clutched her shaking fists at the mention of her background but being surrounded by men stronger than her made her understand that violence wasn't the solution for her, at least not as long as she didn't have her officers near her, especially her trusty senior captain. She was a bit relieved when she noticed the old but imposing Artin in the crowd behind the hostile nobles, as if an alarm rang in his head, he turned and was quick to spot her in trouble. He immediately walked towards her with a neutral expression on his face. He forcibly pushed aside one of Picha's goons to interpose himself between them and his admiral who was secretly relieved to have him by her side.

   "Gentlemen, now is not the time for quarrels but for celebrations. Let's all enjoy our host's hospitality since he provided such a magnificent banquet." Artin calmly said, pointing at the tables covered with fresh food.

   Picha's eye twitched for a second but conceited to leave the admiral alone, for now. Afarin thanked her officer with a sigh and a pat on his massive shoulder, even if she barely reached them from their height difference.

   "Had I been fully human, maybe we'd been friends, Picha and I." She said, looking down at her spilled drink with a heavy heart.

   The senior captain forcibly patted her back which almost made her trip from the sheer strength of that powerful man.

   "Had you been human, none of this would have happened."

   "What do you mean? Because I'm part Ahan, it makes it better? Because I was supposed to become the first step for the goodwill between Ahas lands and Herik? I'm just a pawn in a scheme." She bitterly replied, still staring at the spilled wine. "Mixed blood can’t choose sides and they shouldn’t be allowed to."

   As if to comfort a child, the massive man gently smiled before holding the woman in place by her right shoulder.

   "You may be a pawn in their game, but you're an important pawn nonetheless, remember your role, admiral." Artin said with a stern look. "Don't forget your duty and why you've become the admiral of the royal fleet."

   Despite being physically under Artin's control, the female officer grunted in disapprobation.

   "If it wasn't for your position in this fleet, I'd have you imprisoned for misconduct." An angry Afarin said, finally looking him in the eyes.

   Artin let out a heartfelt laugh before saluting his superior, releasing his iron grip.

   "Never change, admiral. We will always follow you. But try to stay out of trouble, or at least invite some of us in the future." The big man said with what was supposed to be a wink, but with both eyes at different times.

---

Afarin snorted, her resolve came back with a young and handsome captain who brought her a new cup of wine. She hid her smile and fangs with a sip of the famous Premer beverage that was mixed with sugar for more flavour. The friendly officer was pretty much to the woman's taste, having blond hair combed to the side and a pair of blue eyes that she could easily lose herself in. Unlike her husband, she barely remembered his old face.

   "These geezers are like land turtles, grumpy and feisty. You're more like a sea turtle, admiral. You're cool and friendly." The handsome captain said before being chastised by his fellow comrades.

   It made her let out a small chuckle before trying to act like a proper dignified officer by straightening her back and adopting a serious expression that was ready to break at another bad joke from the handsome young man.

   "Captain Val, is this how you flirt with women? No wonder you only get sea dogs." She replied with a gruff voice that was a bit too forced.

   "Don't mind Val, admiral. I'm sure these noble pigs just wanted to pork with a woman of your caliber." Another captain said, wearing his hat on the side of his head, probably thinking it made him look cool.

   Artin let out an embarrassed groan and raised his hand to his face, he made a mental note to teach proper etiquette to the young captains later. Afarin felt more comfortable around her own men than with the rest of the nobility, she let them know with her relaxed shoulders and a genuine smile.

   "Are you all going to try to hit on your superior today? If you want some woman action, go visit the district near the harbour. Don't forget that I'm a married woman with children, seamen." She playfully replied with a pat on a random captain's back.

   "What if we like mothers?" Val asked with a chuckle, earning him some weird looks from his peers.

   The good looking man had grown in Valiamer and inevitably heard stories of the current admiral's overwhelming victories. He even had a painting of the woman who was posing on a poster during a recruitment period. Nobody wanted to know why he pinned the picture in his bedroom.

   "Now, now, Captain Val. As much as you might like mature women, I'm way too old for you. Now, let's enjoy this party, it isn't everyday we get to eat roasted meat." Afarin declared before gently pushing her captains towards the table. "Taste even better with this wine."

   Seeing that his protégée was in good care with her captains, Artin gave Afarin an approving nod before going back to talking with lord Olf who had two lightly dressed servants on his laps. The girls giggled at his stories while stroking his hair. The lord's face lit up when the senior captain sat in front of him.

   "Artin, you're finally back. Don’t mind their petty dispute, they’re young. Now then, these two lovely ladies were telling me how much they wanted to hear about your adventures in the Northern Seas. Remember that battle near Shishtar?" Olf exclaimed before letting one of the servants get up to pull closer a small cask of wine.

   The captain recoiled when he noticed the Ahan attributes of the one who stood up, he laid his palm on the handle on his hidden knife near his crotch. The girl giggled and climbed over the table before landing on his lap with an innocent grin, clearly feeling something hard between the old man's legs.

   "Don't worry, she's the child of a deceased slave that the Order gave to me when they visited two weeks ago." Olf calmly reassured. "Come to think of it, there was supposed to be an Ahas group that was supposed to arrive around that week. Guess they preferred to bite rather than talk."

   Having a barely clothed servant wiggle on his laps was pretty uncomfortable for Artin who winced every time she unknowingly nudged his hidden weapon.

   "Picha doesn't mind this young lass?" Artin asked, glancing at the man in question.

   The Ahan giggled even more before leaning to whisper playfully something in the captain's ear.

   "He's the one who bought me, he loves using me every night. Recently, he's been calling me Faldo but don't call me like that in front of him." The girl said before leaning back with a giggle. "He loves petting while calling me that."

   Artin frowned at the thought of her being called Falmer's daughter by the antagonistic Picha. Lord Olf looked at him with an innocent smile, unaware of the revelation as he was too busy teasing the servant on his laps. The captain kept holding his hidden knife, feeling like something bad was going to happen and that Faldo might not be as harmless as the lord thought.

   "By the way, lord Olf. How is your city going? Last time I visited, you didn't have those fancy ballistae up on your walls."

   "Those? The Order's counsellor told us that we needed them in case of a siege. The man wasn't wrong as it helped to keep the Ahas at bay. But I didn't agree to allow them to garrison here, nor from getting access to our iron deposits in the region. The king Hedi replied to my message and told me that he'll send diplomats to their island. They might arrive at their coastal village of Charlie in a month if everything goes well. Funny how faster it is when we have boats instead of horses." Olf said while idly playing with the servant clinging on him.

   "So the man dressed in grey in the corner is the counsellor of the Order. No wonder I thought he looked suspicious." Artin declared, glancing at a man wearing a grey vest that didn't look like anything from the kingdom. "A foreigner influencing us."

   The man wore a business suit that was made to look medieval, instead of fancy fabrics with a slick design, it was made with thick layers of cloth similar to a gambeson. 

   "The man isn't that bad, he's even organised the triage of the wounded. He may lack some basic noble skills like horse riding or swordsmanship but his escort compensate for that." Olf commented, tilting his head towards two heavily armored men. "Anyone who has both a family name and a personal name has to have some high status, don't you think? For instance, Merdosa Picha, son of Lady Osa Pich. Or yourself, you're from the house of the Art. Well, our guest is from the Brown house." the lord explained, more for entertaining the servant girls than to enlighten the captain who knew that already.

   The lightly dressed human woman was still giggling and stroking the ruler's hair all the while Artin busied himself with a chicken drumstick that the Ahan was eyeing for a while. The concubine of Picha broke her constant bubbly personality to childishly pout for a moment. The senior captain was still keeping an eye on her as he was still suspicious, after all if Faldo was indeed Falmer's daughter it would mean that she's a premature Ahas. After a couple more chit chatting with the lord, the old officer finally asked the question that he's been thinking of since he met the potential threat. To make matters worse, Afarin and some of her naval captains had joined them, mainly because of the tasty meats that were prioritised for Lord Olf's table, be it deers, cows or pork. The Royal Navy didn't have that kind of luxury as this kind of product required preserving them or using constant magic spells to keep them from rotting or by using salt.

   "So, Faldo, how old are you?" Artin asked, ready to draw his knife.

   The officers reacted at the name and glanced at him between bites of their meal. Handsome Val was about to refill Afarin's cup when they all turned their heads towards Artin.

   "A week old, do I still look like a kid?" The servant replied while giggling.

---

Artin flinched but nobody noticed. He had even more doubts about the girl, more than ever. Children forced to mature had the tendency to have a violent hatred towards non Ahas species, which was why Falmer's army only fought campaigns against other races but their own. The innocent looking servant resembled a young adult with very short hair, typical of those who were pushed to sexual maturity. Admiral Afarin whimpered at hearing the answer and lunged to hug the servant who was more than surprised by the admiral's reaction, especially coming from another woman. The high ranking officer quickly regained her composure and cleared her throat.

   "I believe that this Faldo girl needs a better environment, if you accept, lord Olf. I propose to take care of her until she gets more experience in life." Afarin suggested, thinking of lord Alm's adopted children. "She needs a useful husband." She added as an afterthought.

   Artin didn't react, he didn't have time to, he couldn't have predicted it even with his years of experiences both in battle and in peace. Nobody knew the admiral's affinity towards the Ahas or were too oblivious of her personal beliefs. Before the situation worsened, the admiral covered the Ahan's ears even when she spoke in Her: the common language used in the centre of the kingdom.

   "It would benefit the public image of the kingdom, having the royal fleet officially taking care of an orphan Ahas, it would show our willingness to keep good relations with Ahas lands. Right?" She stammered. "Despite being injured, Herik cares about peace."

   Artin relaxed and so did the naval officers around her. Lord Olf's dumbfounded face quickly turned into a grin and the man bursted into laughter, his loud voice startling the  guests who turned their head towards him. He laughed for a while before standing up, his servant girl still clinging to him.

   "It's official, then! I, lord Olf of Premer, donate this Ahas girl to the Herikfer fleet for the future relationships with them." He loudly declared, still thinking on how it would actually benefit him, aside from getting rid of the loud moans during the night.

   Picha looked disappointed but didn't question his lord's choice. Nobles who were for human supremacy in the region weren't too pleased with the taint of another race into the royal fleet, Afarin was already problematic as she was. The admiral realised that she may have made a mistake and dreaded the moment she'll have to answer to the king for her initiative. It already took a lot of convincing for the arranged marriage of her parents with the simple goal of putting the fruit of their union as an army leader.

   "How are you able to say all of this after getting attacked by Falmer's punitive army?" The counsellor of the Order loudly protested.

   Olf Premer turned his body towards counsellor Brown.

   "True. But if we can avoid any more bloodshed, it is something I'll do in a heartbeat. My people are tired and I won't let a war destroy everything my forefathers have worked so hard to create. We didn't come to serve the Heri kingdom for nothing, we serve him for his protection and for our prosperity." Lord Olf coldly explained to his foreigner guest. "When passion overtakes rationality, it will be the end." 

   The naval officers weren't liking his last declaration as they fought with passion, while rationality was only there to guide them. It was with passion that they fought on the battlefield and faced death, or at least that's how they viewed it. Afarin was exacerbating her men's emotions to raise their morale, she unconsciously knew how to use their pride to make them achieve combat feats.

   "I'm glad that we share the same point of view, lord Olf. It would have been bad if you were the opposite." The man of the Order said with a smile.

---

   While the people of high status or nobility were having a feast at the castle, an old abandoned orphanage near the outer walls was being invaded by dozens of Ahas who were wearing hoods or bandages around their faces to hide their identity and their racial attributes. They were all sitting in the dining area where the tables were rusty and rotting, the wooden planks were creaking at every movement and a faint smell of urine was coming out of a corner of the room, not to mention the faint smell of stagnating water somewhere in the room. It was pretty dark, safe for some candles that faintly lit the room and its occupants, giving telltales of their sorry state. Despite the grim scenery, a big man wearing colourful clothes, who was holding a lantern, was standing in the centre of the crowd and next to him was a smaller woman covered in plate armour from head to waist.

   "Excuse our weird pronunciation, we only arrived here. Shashari can't be learned overnight." The woman declared with some hesitation and pauses.

  The crowd muttered and whispered to each other before nodding in agreement.

   "As long as we understand, we don't mind." An Ahan replied after standing up.

   "Good, we're here to help and organise the infiltration operation. In the future, other agents will arrive and will need your help. We may not help you get your revenge, but we will try to learn the truth on what happened here."

   The Ahas let out a few protesting grunts but the simple presence of the big man kept them from getting rowdy, he towered them all by a huge margin and had to bend his knees to not touch the ceiling. In the crowd, the only tall person, aside from the male agent, was a female Ahas whose name was Hohon, she seemed to be the leader of the female infiltrators since they were constantly looking for her reaction before doing anything, be it for gasping or whispering. For the moment, the towering Ahas was quiet, as if she was evaluating the situation herself.

   "I know your feelings, you have lost brothers and sisters to get here just to avenge your people. Some of you sacrificed a lot, I'm aware of it and even with all the goodwill, I won't be able to fully understand your pain. But let's work together to mend your wounds and do what we're here for. We need to gather all the information we can about this city and infiltrate its infrastructures as deep as possible. It won't be easy and it won't happen overnight." Karen explained with a calm and professional tone, though her pronunciation had room for improvement.

   Marcus coughed and all heads turned to him, he was startled by the stare and apologised for distracting them. The imposing guy had accidentally inhaled some lingering dust in the air.

   "Right, I guess we should present ourselves. My name is Karen Smith and the big man is Marcus Gogh. We've been told that you don't really have personal names but you are named by your roles or clan name if it came from a famous one."

   The one who stood up earlier decided to become a representative of his fellow comrades who remained silent. Even Hohon didn’t budge when the talkative Ahas decided to speak up.

   "Names are for those who live long, most of us and even those who aren't present here didn't think we'd live it through. Ours are engraved on our chest for better identification. My name is Messenger, son of Falmer's messenger." The male Ahas declared in Shashari.

   "Wo…so? Woso?" Karen asked in Meeri, trying to improve her comprehension.

   "Yes, Messenger's son. Woso. You, humans, always butcher our names." Woso replied in a bit of disdain before feeling some menacing glares in his back which calmed him for a bit.

  "Sure? Well, now we need to find a way to sustain ourselves, we can't rely on thefts and murders otherwise the city guards will get suspicious. Marcus and I can easily blend in with the human crowd but it will be harder for you, so we will try to bring some supplies if we can but our funds are limited."

   Woso growled when he realised that the situation was worse than they initially thought it'd be, even with the help of the people from the breeding district. Ahas infiltrators all carried a small amount of Herik currency in a pouch but during the fight to get inside, some lost theirs or were badly wounded. Older and more experienced fighters were allowed to carry more but most of them had died during the assault on the walls. Because having better gear meant that they were a bigger threat, those units drew more attention to them, attracting the enemy's steel.

   "Food might not be an issue, but you're right, humans. Our brothers and sisters will set aside their dignity and pride if necessary. For now we need to make a census of our troops before we begin our operation."

   Karen had glanced over the reproductive methods of Ahas, thinking that it would be similar to actual snakes. Marcus, on the other hand, had been more thorough with his study during the trip to Premer, being fascinated by such alien concepts. The big man stepped in with a grunt.

   "All of you who are here are group leaders, right? Instead of having a long check for a big inventory, we should separate you in your small respective groups. That way we won't lose too much time, we will gather here tonight and share our reports." Marcus said with a confident tone.

   Woso nodded with the other Ahas, since Hohon accepted the proposition, so did the other female infiltrators.

   "Perfect. We will give you the location of each temporary hideout so you'll be able to check on us." Woso declared, still feeling some hostile gaze coming from a couple of women.

   "That's settled, then. Password will be: I'm looking for an anvil. Code words are mountain and walnut." Karen declared in Shashari.

   The two humans weren't used to creating a clandestine infiltration operation but they haven't been thrown in the wild without any support. They had been given a long range radio that had been camouflaged as a broken wooden jewellery box, though when in use, it had an antenna protruding from it. There was also an incendiary bomb strapped to it, if they needed to destroy it, if they were found out. An overzealous Argo operator even gave them a flintlock pistol for self defence, thinking that giving them an actual weapon was too dangerous for this world. Their main contact was an agent named Johnson who had been working in Premer for decades before becoming an intelligence officer.

   With the guidance of this Argo operator from the other side of the radio, Karen and Marcus managed to create a somewhat functioning base of operation in the abandoned orphanage along with a database for the lineage of every Ahas infiltrator, Woso wasn't as happy with it as it wasn't as complete as a standard file but he couldn't complain since they didn't have any scribe and very few of the infiltrators knew how to write or read. Thanks to his background, the male Ahas became a reference for anything that was related to inscriptions, being the bridge between his group and the two humans.

   "To think they don't even have running water here." Karen complained to Marcus as they were settling in a dormitory for the night, their two beds separated by a bedsheet hung between them.

   Woso and a few other infiltrators were sound asleep, the small beds were put side by side so that they could lie on them easily. Not being used to a colder environment, they huddled together, indifferent of the gender, as long as there was heat.

   "I think that living in an actual medieval setting is quite humbling. We're too used to taking things for granted." Marcus replied, absentmindedly looking at some Ahas sleeping in the same group of beds, noticing some weird tattoo on the left forearm of some of the women.

   "Do they even have coffee here?" Karen quietly complained, looking around for a coffee machine that didn’t exist.

   "Probably not, I've heard that they have a lot of occupied farmlands around the city and that in a three hour walking distance, there's a luxurious forest. Do you think we could use the natural resources as income?"

   Not having found a coffee machine, Karen shrugged at the question.

   "It would be too easy, there's probably some kind of permit system. But then again… we're humans, how hard would it be to create an enterprise? We'd have to see with our Ahas friends if they would be willing to act as slaves or servants to not arouse any suspicion." The blonde woman replied, thinking about the somewhat arrogant Ahas from earlier.

[Cath]

Chapter 15: Ivana

   As the dust was settling down and the chaos subsided, Daniel staggered to his feet and with a feeling of relief, he collapsed on a chair with his limbs hanging from his body. His heart felt like bursting out of his ribcage while his lungs were ready to be spat out. It was with a hoarse voice that he let out a long moan. He somehow made it out alive, he was bruised and battered but he was still alive albeit on the verge of fainting. On the other side of the meeting room, Abby had managed to restrain a very excited woman whose family name would bring nightmares to the sitting poor man who was hanging on to dear life. 

   "Jesus Christ Smirnov!" Abby yelled as she struggled to keep the fury on the ground.

   "He's a spy from the Order!" Ivana Smirnov's gruff voice shouted as she was clawing the floor with her nails.

   "He's not, you crazy bitch!"

   Had Daniel got any energy left, he would have laughed or at least chuckled at his weirdo of a friend calling someone else crazy. Instead he just wheezed, more like he was trying hard to take his breath.

   "Yes, he is! Nobody can fight for that long without being an agent of the Order!"

   Farmer who had forgotten his briefcase in the room had run to get it before missing his bus which he was definitely going to miss now. He didn't take a step inside that his jaw hit the floor as what he saw was two of his best agents fighting on top of each other and a man sitting on a chair who looked like he was at death's door. He couldn't help but curse and slug the women's face. Abby was sent flying to the other side of the meeting room and Ivana's head made a dent in the concrete floor. It took a minute before the man got the two troublemakers to sit in front of him, their pretty faces were swollen from the punch and Smirnov had a nosebleed.

   "I can't believe that you can be both competent and incompetent at the same time! Look at the mess! Look at the poor newbie!" Farmer yelled at them, slightly siptting on them.

   Abby childishly pointed at Ivana, prompting an accusatory look from the muscular woman who flinched.

   "She started it, she almost beat my friend to death." Abby let out, like a child who was being scolded, which was pretty much the case.

   Farmer covered his face with his hand as he let out a tired sigh then stared at the strong woman with deep disappointment in his eyes.

   "Why am I not surprised? What was it this time, did he look at you funny?"

   Ivana Smirnov wasn’t known to be a troublemaker but was an air-trigger around men, only Farmer was safe from her aggressive tendencies mainly because she had a deep respect for him when he saved her a long time ago. Though this time, she couldn’t look him in the eyes, staring down to avoid his disappointed gaze.

   "He's a spy from the Order. He evaded most of my punches and was able to stand up even after I kicked him in the groin."

   Farmer winced at the last detail, then looked at the battered Daniel who was lying on the chair while breathing heavily. The powerful man sighed again and pulled out a file from the briefcase he had forgotten in the room. He showed the piece of paper to Ivana who was probably too concerned by her nosebleed as to avoid looking at her boss.

   "Daniel Tonq was indeed involved with the Order at multiple occasions but has never shown any signs of being a member either important or insignificant. He has proved to be able to resist their influence most of the time, the ghost tank incident two months ago is a good example. I do have to commend him for his self control around the enemy agent Amy Moore, most straight men would have gone head over heels for her… social skills." Farmer said while reading Daniel's file but squinted his eyes at Abby for the last part.

   "Not a spy then?" Ivana asked, surprised.

   "No, he isn't. You just beat up an innocent man for having good endurance." Farmer said while Abby was furiously nodding in approval. "I hope he won't sue you. Now get this poor soul to a doctor, I am not getting another corpse in this building." 

   At this point, Farmer had missed his bus and he wasn't in a good mood to stay around these troublemakers. He did give them a tissue to wipe the nosebleed and pointed the location to an ice cube dispenser at the company's cafeteria. Thankfully for them, there weren't a lot of people at that time and they didn't have to explain why they looked like shit or why they were carrying a semiconscious man on their shoulder. After applying some ice on their bruised face, Ivana, also known as agent Sword, decided to apologise to Abby but muttered something about Daniel who was in no condition to understand anything.

   "So, did you really kick his groin?" Abby asked as she was wiping dust off of Dan's face.

   "Yeah, he wasn't going down quickly so I aimed for the universal weak spot." Ivana said, doing an uppercut to the air.

   Abby flinched when the Amazon woman did the movement as she also received that treatment when she was training with the muscular woman. The worried tanned girl checked Daniel's groin in case of any damages, she didn't want her friend to suffer permanent injuries, especially if it meant no more bedroom fun. The man's dong responded positively to her delicate touch which prompted a relieved smile on her face. Thankfully for Abby, Ivana didn’t notice the act as she was too busy applying ice on her bruise.

   "So, if he isn't a spy, that means he's actually a good lay for you, right?" Ivana wondered, looking up and down the younger woman. “Never let your guard down. Sex isn’t everything.”

   Abby ground her teeth and almost squeezed Dan's member, making the injured man whine at the sudden roughness. Agent Sword didn't look too interested in him, if not with a bit of disgust, but the well-being of her younger colleague was still on her mind.

   "Why are you judging my decisions?" A slightly offended Abby asked. "I’m an adult now."

   "You know how men are, I don't want you to get abused by them." Ivana sternly remarked. "I don't want you to..."

   "Don't project your trauma on me, I can handle myself." snaply Abby replied, quite offended. "And beside, Dan is a sweet innocent boy. I'll have you know that he rejected my forceful advances, he's not even my boyfriend."

   "Misha was also acting like a gentle and sweet boy, up until he drugged me and… " Ivana said before keeping herself from puking.

   Abby felt bad to have somehow forced the musclehead to think of her past. Inside the imposing woman's mind, past scenes were flashing in front of her eyes as her own screams echoed in her head along with unending manly laughs and sounds of clothes being ripped apart. Her stomach was on fire and a sharp pain in her whole body made her shed a tear, as her insides were boiling with both intense fear and deep hatred toward a blurry face that she still could guess had shit eating grin. She felt drifting in an abyss before she was called back in reality as Abby was poking her from behind. With a snort, Ivana subtly wiped her single tear and tried to act cool in front of her junior.

   "Damn, I just felt dizzy for a moment, probably because of the head trauma. Well, let's get your not-boyfriend treated. I think they have some bandages in the first aid kit in the kitchen."

   When Daniel woke up, his head was pounding and he slowly realised that someone tried to disguise him as mummy, with bandages compressing his body and with some weird lotions that were smelling like alcohol and medicine. He found himself lying on a mat in a gym, he could hear feminine grunts coming from behind him as the scent of sweat invaded his nostrils. With a bit of pain, he raised his head and looked in the mirror in front of him. What he saw in the reflection were two beautiful women doing pull-ups on a training bar. One was a tanned woman with a toned body which Daniel recognised immediately for having spent a couple of delightful nights with her. The other girl was ripped, with arms that could crush a watermelon as if it was nothing, yet it was still in a graceful feminine figure, even with her massive rack. Daniel felt some shame at the sight of her well defined six pack with which he discovered was a new turn on. Abby and the one he knew as Smirnov seemed to have some kind of competition on who would last the longer while doing reps. Ivana's generous chest didn't seem to hinder her efforts at pulling herself up the metal bar. He could clearly see her strong back muscles contracting and retracting during the workout.

   "Feeling like giving up yet?" Smirnov taunted Abby, not showing any sign of slowing down.

   "Those words are unknown to me." Abby chuckled, determined to not lose.

   Daniel watched them compete with an amused look on his bandaged face. He was contemplating the fact that he might have fallen in love with Abby after rejecting her but he blamed his newfound desire for her carnal pleasure.

   "Still thinking about your not-boyfriend?" Smirnov asked between pull-ups.

   "I killed my desire to become his girlfriend after I made love with him. Now it's just friends with benefits. Not being tied down is a plus, now that I think about it."

   Agent Sword felt a bit relieved to hear that but a part of her knew that Abby had something else in mind.

   "How so? He wasn't enough to satisfy you?" Ivana asked as if she was talking about customer service rather than something sexual.

   "Nah, more like, I don't want to be accustomed to his… thick love." Abby replied with a laugh that didn’t last long due to their workout.

   "Oi, don't take me for a retard."

   "What? You think you can handle the truth?" Abby said with a grin that Smirnov couldn't see.

   Agent Sword grunted louder as to display her dominance, somehow telling that she can pull her weight and in more ways than one.

   "Hah! You couldn't handle his thick veiny delicious meat, his massive majestic cock can fill you like nothing you've ever had before. His big fat dick could make you curl your toes with just the tip. No matter how much experience you can have, you can't resist his pulsating juicy hard on. You'll never get to tame this beast of a cock as he will ram it so deep inside you, you'll cum before his balls could touch your quivering cunt." Abby chanted, emphasising on every adjective and dick related terms.

   Neither Ivana nor Daniel could have guessed that she would have such a foul mouth for describing his manhood, the man was also impressed that she could say all of this while doing such a heavy workout. Having a newfound respect for her younger colleague, agent Sword let go of the metallic bar and gracefully landed on the mat with her muscular arms extended.

   "You win this time, Morena. I might suggest that you and your not-boyfriend enter the investigation team. At best we'll depart in three weeks, if there's an emergency it'll be in a week. Make sure to prepare him." The woman explained before noticing Daniel who was struggling to stand up. "Oi, blue boy! Stay down, you don't want to injure yourself again, do you?"

   With a 'hup', Abby landed on the mat and grabbed a towel that she put on her shoulders.

   "Don't bully Dan, he's my friend." Abby cooed.

   "Hello again, Smirnov." Daniel timidly said with a wave that made his body ache.

   Abby rolled her eyes and grabbed her boy-friend around her sweat covered arms in what was supposed to be a hug but it resembled more of an Heimlich manoeuvre.

   "You can call her Ivana, she's also a friend of mine." she said with a gentle voice.

   Daniel who finally learnt Smirnov's first name felt a bit uneasy as Ivana shot him a death glare since the muscle head still had some grievance towards him.

   "Men who pretend to be what they aren't can't call me Ivana. Until I say so, it's gonna be Smirnov, got it?" She said before heading to the showers.

   Abby shrugged and hugged her bandaged friend who whimpered as his injuries barely had any time to heal. Poor Daniel was thankful that he had no broken ribs or bones, but the bruises hurt like a bitch and being treated like a sexual predator didn't help either. The caring girl noticed his offended look and nibbled his ear with a chuckle.

   "Don't mind her, she has a bad history with men. Don't take it personally, once she'll learn who you really are, she'll be way more fun." Abby explained, hoping for the best.

   "What happened to your face?" Dan asked after noticing her swollen cheek that still had the mark of Farmer's fist.

   The fit girl remembered her bruise, making a surprised expression before poking the bandaged guy's cheek as she snickered.

   "Farmer isn't someone to underestimate. Now then, wanna shower together?" Abby asked as she pulled him towards said showers.

   During the short trip to the changing room, Daniel learnt that they hauled his unconscious ass to Ivana's training centre where most field agents went during their training period. Abby jokingly told him how they got pulled over by a traffic cop because they were transporting a heavily bandaged person on the backseat without any seatbelt. Thankfully, giving the excuse of 'going to the hospital' was good enough to take their leave.

   The showering muscular woman wasn't very happy when she saw the other two who entered the bathroom while wearing nothing but a towel around their waist, even worse, the bandages she took care to put on him were gone. Ivana was even less happy when she saw Abby pulling Daniel by the hand as they entered the same cubicle which quickly became opaque due to the steam.

   "How are you feeling?" Abby asked as she rubbed Daniel's back with soapy hands.

   "Like if a truck ran over me and then proceeded in slowly backing on my battered body."

   "Aww, poor baby." She cooed. "She even hurt your mini Dan too." Abby said before touching his member.

   She playfully rubbed his flaccid genitals as she pressed her modest chest on his back, poking him with her perky nipples. Daniel enjoyed every bit of her gentle touch as he closed his eyes to take in every sensations she gave him. Abby knew how to work up her friend, from breathing down his neck to sensually caressing his body and now erect member. The warm water covered the noise of Dan's quiet moans as well as the girl gently wanking her not-boyfriend's thick dick. Even with her careful touch, he couldn't help but flinch with every stroke since every part of his body ached from the beating of earlier.

   "Careful with the tool, it still hurts a bit." He whispered in a moan.

   The caring girl chuckled and with a nibble on his earlobe, she squeezed his belly, unconsciously reminding him that he wasn’t as fit as her. The boy didn't understand why she did that so he opened his eyes and almost yelped as he was eye to eye with an amused Abby. Even with her swollen cheek, she looked beautiful to him and to show it, he gently kissed her pillowy lips. She struggled to control herself as the first thing she wanted to do was to jump him and embrace him furiously, instead she forced her tongue in his mouth and he replied in kind, both dancing in each other's cavity. They enjoyed each other's company for a while, forgetting that they were still in a public place and that Ivana was literally in the cubicle next to them, oblivious to what was going on. And still, they pawed their lover's body as if nothing else mattered.

   "Let me show you that I'm better than that slut Amy." Abby whispered in his ear after breaking their trance.

   Dan was about to ask what she meant but she shushed him with a finger on his lips as she kissed his neck then slowly moved down, from his chest to his stomach to end on his phallus. He caressed her wet black hair as she lovingly kissed his tip with loud smacking noises that made the shaft twitch from the attention. With his first moan as a signal, she gently slid her soft lips on his shaft, tasting a bit of his precum on her tongue that she immediately used to wrap around Dan's imposing rod. His caress and his veiny meat in her mouth were everything she wanted and needed at the moment, giving all her love to his delicious meat while being showered with love and warm water.

   "You're so good, Abby." He moaned while brushing her hair.

   She moaned with his fat cock muffling her reply, she decided to go further and swallowed the entirety of his thick shaft, making him shudder as she gagged on his tip down her throat. Daniel was still discovering new turn ons and Abby unknowingly kept feeding him more as she helped him explore his sexuality. She squeezed his head with the back of her throat for a bit before pulling out his fat member from her mouth. She groaned as she breathed in before smiling from her achievement. 

   "Damn, you're way better than Amy. She can't compare." Daniel admitted as he lovingly looked at the beautiful woman in front of him.

   Abby was pleased to hear that and rewarded his compliment with a kiss on the tip before repeatedly slapping it on her tongue. The view pleased the young man who couldn’t help but send more blood in his already engorged member.

   "Later you'll have to do me like that." Abby declared with a wink.

   Daniel's heart sank when he realised that she did everything to please him but he didn't do anything for her. With renewed strength, he lifted her on her feet, pushed her back against the shower cubicle and buried his head between her thighs, Abby seemingly stunned by his initiative. He may have had no experience with orally pleasing a woman's pussy, but he was going to do his best. He started licking her outer lips like it was a treat then moved on her cute pink button which he sucked and played with his tongue, making Abby coo, moan and purr in pleasure. Though he was clumsy with his movements, she didn't mind, instead she kneaded her breast and bit her lower lip. Few men ever did that to her and she was going to enjoy it as much as possible. Daniel squeezed her asscheeks while licking the wet entrance of her wet slit, he was glad that he could taste her love juice before it mixed with the warm water raining down on them. Feeling greedy, he pushed in, spreading apart her lips with his tongue and inserting it in her hot welcoming cunt, discovering yet a new way to love this beautiful woman. Her mind overwhelmed by the passionate cunninlingus, Abby loved his attention and caressed his head as he was getting to work, spinning his tongue inside her and making her go crazy. The girl couldn’t help but moan loudly as the man she loved had his face buried between her thighs, his nose was brushing against her clit and every time he pushed deep inside, he poked her button, taking in her lovely scent. It didn't take long before Daniel could feel Abby's inner muscles contracting and a wave of her love juice came rushing in his mouth, he swallowed some but the rest just overflowed. 

   "Oh baby, keep that tongue going!" She said as she pushed his head in her wet and dripping cunt.

   Daniel took some initiatives and inserted a finger as he was penetrating her with his tongue, then he proceeded in dedicating himself to finger fuck her while working on her pink button. Loving the oral service and wanting to show her appreciation, Abby took his free hand and put it on her burning chest, he could feel her excited heartbeat as he squeezed her mound. He shifted position to take better care of her slit, spreading her lips apart with his fingers and running his tongue around her welcoming labia. After a few more orgasms, Daniel noticed some white gooey liquid coming out of her shivering pussy as Abby let out a high pitched moan.

   "Did you just ejaculate?" Daniel asked, incredulous.

   The speechless Abby stammered as she was trying to control her spasms, having clearly enjoyed every bit of his attention. Satisfied, Daniel gave a long kiss on her cute clit before ending it with a popping noise with his mouth.

   "Was I that good?" He asked with a grin as Abby was regaining some composure.

   "Jesus Christ! Where did you learn to do that?" She said out of breath.

   "The talent." He bragged, his nose still brushing her cunt.

   She forced a laugh before poking his nose when he was finished with making love to her pussy.

   "Very funny. Now get the fuck out, I need to clean the mess you've made." Abby laughed, still feeling some afterglow.

   "I can help with that." Daniel proposed, already licking her cum which resulted in a surprised moan.

   "Please don't, otherwise we'll never finish." She begged as she held back his head.

   Dan took the hint and got on his feet. He was still hurting from the beating but he somehow felt better, especially after seeing Abby's overjoyed face. When he exited the cubicle to let the girl wash herself, he was surprised to find Ivana who had drawn her short sword on him.

   "Oi! What did you do to her?" She furiously asked, alerted by the screams.

   The Amazon had run to get her sword when she first heard the moans, but traumatic flashbacks slowed her decision making process.

   "Not again!" Daniel exclaimed.

   "That's not an answer. What have you done to her, I heard screams!"

   Not wanting to get his erection cut down, he nudged the sword away from him with a serious look that unnerved the armed woman who frowned, gripping tightly the handle.

   "I made love to Abby, I returned all the love she had for me." 

   "Love, huh? Judging from your still erect member, you didn't use her. But my question still stands." A calmer Ivana said before putting back her sword in the sheath while still having a grip on it.

   Daniel felt like bragging about his exploits but having a somewhat hostile and muscular woman in front of him made him reconsider his behaviour.

   "Oral. That's all." he declared, trying to look unbothered.

   Ivana reluctantly decided to begin trusting him, as part of her therapy was to let go of the past. She was still frowning at Dan, mostly because of his erection aimed at her although she internally admitted that Abby's praises were mostly true, at least when it came to the circumference of the tool. Trying to keep her usual demeanor, the imposing woman grunted.

   "Don't even think that I'll take care of your hard on, blue boy."

   "Didn't even cross my mind. Well, I'm gonna get dressed and wait for Abby to come out."

   With some impressive willpower, Daniel acted as if everything was normal and fine even though he was naked in the shower with two feisty ladies, one of whom still had a sword in hand. His relaxed attitude as he walked away stunned Ivana who watched him leave in a confused awe. When he was sure that he was alone, he collapsed on his knees with a huge sigh of relief. He still had a big problem between his legs but he was already satisfied with the images engraved in his mind which were of Abby's beautiful curves as she was having powerful orgasms thanks to his tongue.

   A few minutes later, Ivana was giving them a ride to the headquarters of Argo company's parking lot as they still needed to get their car back. The drive was spent chit chatting and Abby explaining why they were in a black SUV with tinted glass.

   "… and that's why the motor has a shielding plate. Frankly, I can't believe the Order gave up half of their fleet after losing a deal during the Defence Exhibit in Bahrain." The girl explained while fiddling with Daniel's hair as they waited at a traffic stop.

   "That's above level three clearance, Morena." Agent sword complained before remembering something. "We didn't even give him any! Fuck! Now we HAVE to go to agent Burger's office." She exclaimed as she realised her mistakes.

   The driver floored it when the traffic light went green.

[Cath]

Chapter 15.5: Intermission

   In a crowded conference room in Madrid, people were chatting with each other about taxes, incomes and other business related topics while smoking and infesting the place with its stench. All fell silent when the CEO entered the room, creating a gust of wind even though they were in the centre of the building, and with two armed guards in tow, the woman casually walked, her high heels clicking and echoing in the silence as she approached her seat at the far end of the table. A faint smell of death followed the woman, despite wearing expensive perfume. Some of the businessmen flinched as she passed behind them and yet they still observed her every move. Once in front of her chair, she waited a moment before sitting with her legs and arms crossed, her bodyguards standing behind her with a stoic face.

   "I’ll cut to the chase. I'm going to make a reform of the state of our current enterprise." She declared. "When I was gone, you guys really messed up my business in ways I don't like."

   Nobody dared to protest as the threat posed by the two men wielding light machine guns was present. She scanned the assembly with eyes the colour of emeralds shining in the dark, she didn't smile nor frowned, she was impassable.

   "From this moment, we’ll revert back to my old policy. Recruitments for field agents will have to be approved by myself. So no more nepotism and I'm specifically talking about you Moore, five of your family members have been hired and only one is competent enough to bring some influence. Though it isn't really the one I desired." She said, staring intensely at the crowd. "Which reminds me."

   The boss pulled out a box that one of her guards carried then dropped the pistol it contained on the table, it was wet and smelled of urine. The boss lady was clearly looking at the object with disgust, her expression made the others feel uneasy.

   "As for the one that dropped my personal handgun in the toilet, you're fired." She declared, watching a man leave the room quietly. "But I think it's a good allegory. It represents the state of our business. It's a utility tool with a sleek design but it's been thrown down the toilet and now it smells like piss and shit. I'm disappointed that you didn’t take care of it while I was gone. After all, it was made with the souls of the founding fathers of this company."

   She washed her hands with a disinfectant gel before continuing while the room stared in silence. Some of her employees didn't seem very pleased, grinding teeth and twitching as a handful were boiling with rage. Who was she to talk when she disappeared those years ago?

   "All current operations will receive additional agents in order to conclude them faster. By agents, I mean my Children. The future operations, on the other hand, won't be as overt as the ones you created while I was away. I can’t risk the world to know about me. My hand picked agents will oversee them all. And if I ever find out that you were acting incompetently, costing me millions in any currency, I'll… " she said before stopping, having a devious smile deforming her calm expression, which sent shivers down the spine of those unfortunate to catch it. "I'll let you imagine the worst, because that'll be the least of what you'll be expecting."

   A handful of businessmen slid their hand on their concealed gun but before they could do anything, they froze as they felt the cold gaze of their employer who bore a devious smile. It was the last thing they saw of her before their vision went dark, their last memory were her bright glowing green eyes. The CEO watched the unconscious men being dragged away by guards who wore business suits as a disguise. Those who had hesitated to take action were stunned by the instantaneous takedowns and looked at her in fear, knowing that she wouldn't hesitate to take actions long before they tried anything against her.

   "Mother knows best." She declared before turning to those who didn't betray her trust. "My Children, a new age dawns on our world." The CEO declared over a radio that was broadcasting worldwide to all sorts of armed people. 

   From comfy lofts of Los Angeles to the packed communal rooms of Luanda where the agents were awake, to the isolated groups of hunters of the Order in Kirghizistan or the various kinds of islanders who were voluntarily staying awake to listen to the conference. Her crystal clear voice translated simultaneously in every language to reach her followers, awakening something deep within their core. As if she was shackling their desire.

   "The previous decades were but the stepping stone of a new era. From now on, all personnel will be issued a new powerful tool designed by yours truly. The Order will crush those who oppose the Will of this world. Chaos has been too rampant and it is our duty to bring order. If peace was never an option, I will personally make sure that it will be."

   Unlike for the past few decades, this woman was the real CEO and she was going to personally conduct the purge of every spec that corrupted her plaything, starting with the top and steadily working her way down the hierarchy. Like fire, she will consume the trails that plagued her endeavour. She was going to check on every operation and the Premer incident was near the bottom on her exhaustive list though her war in the shadows was only the beginning.

[Cath]

Chapter 16: broken and friendship

    Jacob just finished working at his father's office and was finally going to ask the pretty blonde receptionist for a date after he decided to settle for a less lecherous lifestyle. He secretly thanked his best friend for unknowingly opening his eyes on what relationships should be, he had realised that only having casual hookups wasn't going to help the bombshell blonde to take interest in him. It was with a deep breath that he confidently walked at his love interest's reception desk which had her name written on a fake golden plate. Rosalie Clark raised her head and was ready to greet him with her brightest smile, mechanically brushing her bang sideways over her ear. Jacob's heart fluttered at her sight.

   "Rose, do you want to go out with me?" He confidently asked.

   "My shift ends in an hour, do you really need someone to help you leave your dad's office?" She casually replied while keeping eye contact and typing on her keyboard.

   The obliviousness made the handsome man to feel stupid and hopeless, his shoulders sank as well as his confidence. With a sudden questioning of the meaning of life, Jacob put a hand on his forehead before thinking of his life choices. When he came back to reason, he looked at Rose, the girl he wanted to impress since he met her at an office party. He had approached her by complimenting her ponytail when she tried a new haircut, saying that she looked cute with it. Since then, she always has one which made Jacob believe that she liked his compliment, his feeling was reinforced when he met her outside of work without one, and that she proceeded in tying her hair at the back of her head when she saw him.

   "You feeling alright? Should I call an ambulance?" The receptionist said, with her phone ready to dial the emergency services.

   "I… I'm at loss for words, really." He muttered while staring blankly at the desk.

   "What's the matter?"

   "No-nothing. Forget it, see you tomorrow." He blurred before rushing to the elevator.

   He was already halfway to his exit that she called his name, her soft voice saying it resonated in his head. He turned and saw her looking angry, with her hair undone and flowing thanks to the fan on her desk. For a fraction of a second, she looked like an angel.

   "I'm not into studs, sir. I heard about your reputation and I won't be part of your future bragging story at the next office party." She coldly explained.

   He fell on his knees and held back his tears as he didn't want the other workers to see him like that. He cursed himself for all his previous decisions and realised that he couldn’t deal with their consequences. Was he wrong to try and enjoy an eventful sex life?

   "I… I understand. I'll take my leave then." He replied before walking away.

   He didn't look back nor didn't he notice Rose standing up nor did he hear her say something. Jacob's mind went blank and his expression showed it. He mechanically left the building and drove home, his mind blacked out. He stood at the doorstep of his apartment, contemplating his mistakes while ignoring the constant ringing on his vibrating phone. He couldn't gather the strength to open the door, he could barely lift his trembling hand. He then suddenly felt water on his cheeks, he wiped it but it kept coming. That's when he realised that he was crying, his throat was a knot and didn't allow him to express his emotion. His legs failed him and he leaned against the door as he sat while crying silently, with his ego broken from being rejected by the only woman he only cared about. He hated his guts for having behaved like a tool and thinking that if he could romance countless girls he could romance the one he actually loved.

   "Jack?" A distant voice called as Jacob was curled in a ball against the door. "Jack!"

   A pair of arms reached for him and gently touched him. He felt broken inside and didn't care about anything anymore. 

   "Help me get him inside, we can't let him in this state." The voice said.

   Jacob couldn't care less anymore. He didn't react to the arms dragging him. He didn't react when he was lifted from the floor. He didn’t care where he was put on.

   "Abby, do something about his phone." The voice ordered as it echoed in his mind.

   He was alone in the cold darkness, he was in a fetal position and it was the only way he felt some warmth. The arms had abandoned him as well and distant voices were saying things that he couldn't care about. At least the constant ringing had stopped. He quickly regretted it as he kept hearing Rose's words in repeat, accompanied with his own inner voice saying "loser" over and over.

   "What do you think would happen if I poke him with a stick?" another distant voice asked.

   "Abby no! Don't kick the man while he's down!"

   "Jack seems out of it. You know what would cheer him up?"

   "A pizza?"

   "With lots of pepperoni! I'll order one right now."

   Jacob heard them faintly talk some more but he didn't care. He spent what felt like an eternity in his darkness and life crisis as his eyes tears ran down his cheeks. It was a familiar and agreeable smell that cracked the shell he was taking refuge in, bits by bits, as the smell became stronger, light slipped in and filled him with warmth. The dark place steadily letting in the outside world that reminded him that he was still alive. When he opened his eyes, he was welcomed with smiles and a slice of pizza presented to him. His best friend and his cousin looked worried but kept smiling as he sat on the couch he was lying on. He somehow got in the living room and showed his confusion with a small whimper.

   "You guys… " He let out with a snort.

   His friends sighed in relief and Abby hugged him, he was surprised but he replied in kind. His best friend gave him an approving look.

   "Jesus, Jacob! You scared the hell out of us!" exclaimed Daniel who was sitting on the edge of the table.

   "God damn it, Jack! We thought you went catatonic!" Abby exclaimed with a cry.

   Daniel looked at her funny when she mentioned the medical term, not being accustomed to her using any fancy words.

   "Sorry guys, I just had a really bad day… " Jacob started before noticing their bruises. "But you don't look much better."

   His comment earned him a nudge from Abby's knuckle and an embarrassed laugh from Daniel who looked the worst. Jacob finally grabbed the slice of pizza that his friend was holding out for him.

   "Got attacked by an amazon, you wouldn't understand." Dan explained with Abby's approving nods. "You look like you got hit by a truck of the emotional plane."

   "I got rejected." He admitted after taking a bite of the pizza.

   The other two shared a disbelieved look and Abby checked the temperature on his forehead by pressing hers on him but didn't find anything unusual.

   "Not to be a dick, but isn't that something normal? Not everyone wants to sleep with you." Daniel told, as if he had any experience in the matter.

   At this point, Abby had hugged him long enough and decided to sit next to her lover.

   "If it was a potential one-nightstand, I wouldn't care. But aside being smart, clever and beautiful, she has a way of making your day a good one with just a smile. She radiates with such a caring presence, always asking if everyone is fine, even going to personally take them to the hospital if need be. She isn't just another girl, she's the perfect one." Jacob explained while trying to ignore Abby's jealous gaze.

   "Am I not smart, clever and beautiful too?" The young woman asked, offended while Daniel gently patted her back. "It's for her tits and ass, isn't it?"

   Rosalie Clark's features never crossed Jacob's mind, so much so that he couldn’t tell if she had any.

   "No! Rose is more than ass and boobs. She's kind, caring, she loves thriller novels and good food." Jack cited. "She knows how to make you feel special, her smile can brighten everyone's day."

   "Rose?" Abby asked.

   They spent the rest of the evening discussing Jacob's love interest and how she probably wasn't worth all his worries, some laughs were exchanged when Daniel jokingly suggested firing her. Once he felt better, he thanked them and looked for his phone. He discovered that an unknown number had tried to call him for the last few hours but the device was muted. He hesitated to phone back, he looked if he was alone and decided to dial. He could hear Abby jumping on his best friend for god knows why.

   "Hello?" He said as the person picked up.

   "Took you long enough to pick up, sir. I won't say I'm sorry, but it was for your sake." A female voice said. 

   "What?" He asked as his heart skipped a beat when he recognised the voice.

   "I don't want to go out with a stud, I want to go out with a normal man. In the office, you're the legend of a man who can sleep with every woman he sees. You're athletic looking, you're rich, you have lots of charisma and you can achieve everything you do. You have everything and I don't want to be just another conquest, just another name of the latest woman you've slept with. You understand?"

   Throwing away all of his friends' advice to forget her, Jacob decided to be true to her. Forsaking every pickup line he knew, he decided to be genuine in what he was going to say.

   "Rose? You're more than just any woman, you're the perfect one. The one I want to spend the rest of my life with, the one I want to grow old with."

   "Aren't you a little too young for that kind of speech?" Rosalie said with what Jacob interpreted as a chuckle.

   "I want to set aside my past life and start a new one with you, Rose. The other women can't compare to you, you're the most caring of them all. The way you look when you're focused, the way you laugh at even the cheesiest jokes, the way you brush aside your hair when we talk… everything you do makes my heart flutter. There's no way to describe how perfect you are."

   The secretary didn't sound like she trusted his words and, in some sort of sadistic pleasure, she asked him something that she was sure he would fail. Jacob was known to say the right words to seduce any girls, if Rosalie was to be just another conquest, she might as well give him a challenge worthy of his feats.

   "Then, how about this? No more hookups with any women or men for a year and maybe I'll consider giving you a chance for a date?"

   "Starting now?" Jacob eagerly asked.

   She chuckled and wished him good luck before hanging up. 

   In the following days, with the aid of his best friend, Jacob took the challenge seriously and decided to tell all his sex friends that he was going to take a break for a year, and that he was possibly not going to ask for any more hook ups. Most of his conquests protested while others just didn't care enough to reply, but in the end, it was with a free conscience that he started his chastity for the woman he wanted to impress. He still had to make sure that neither Abby nor Daniel would coerce him in anything lewd, since his cousin was known for her sexual shenanigans and Jack's belief was reinforced when he caught the girl giving a sloppy blowjob to his best friend in the living room. The very same day he started his abstinence. 

   "Oh my fucking god!" Jacob exclaimed, jumping back at the sigh.

   "I suppose it's useless to say that it isn't what it looks like?" Daniel asked as he was accompanying Abby's head on his rod.

   "I leave you for more than a minute and you're fucking in the house while I'm still here!"

   As if Abby was enjoying being caught in the act, she doubled her efforts in sucking Dan's cock, making louder slurping noises and feeling him twitch between her soft lips.

   "Yeah… we'll… get a room?" Daniel barely managed to say as the blowjob was more intense.

   "Yeah! Get a room! Also I promised Rose that I won't have any kind of sexual relationship for a year, so don't fuck with me."

   Abby felt the dick in her mouth get soft for a second, frustrating her as she took it as an insult.

   "I'm not like that." Daniel protested.

   "I am!" Abby jokingly said between a few strokes. "Thought not with the family." She added after getting some judgemental looks from her friends.

   In the end, their day had ups and downs but there was one thing that didn't change and it was their friendship. But things were already changing in their life, starting with the sexual tensions from these three.

[Cath]

Chapter 17: pain of the Ahas

   It had been a week since the successful defense of Premer. The royal fleet Herikfer had to be stationed at its harbor in case of another attack from the Ahas, it didn't please neither the admiral nor the lord who had a hard time to get merchant ships to dock or go through the city without being blocked by a warship. One of the few positive outcomes was a rise in the traffic in the harbor district, mainly the red light one, and a boost of morale from both the population and the city's guards as being directly under the protection of the royal fleet, showed that the King Hedi cared about them. If all seemed pretty good on the surface, another problem was brewing as a small group of unknown affiliation was lurking in the shadows of back alleys and a couple of bodies of local thugs had been found dead, either by being strangled to death or by having their throat cut off. In the same shroud of mystery, the rotting corpses of the Ahas that had died outside the walls had all disappeared, along with their gear. Most officials pinned it on looters and farmers who used the bodies as fertilizer while a small minority suggested that it was the work of Ahas stragglers.

   "Why is a marine doing patrols in the streets so early in the morning?" a soldier of the naval fleet grumbled as he and a city guard were strolling in back alleys.

   "Talking in the third person again? You marine guys are weird." his land companion joked. "But working with an experienced soldier is quite reassuring."

   "Well, the admiral said that we should build some rapports, so patrolling isn’t so bad. If it wasn’t for the fact that the sun is barely visible." the marine said, looking towards the rising sun.

   Meanwhile on the royal laufer, the flamethrower boat of the admiral, a sparring session was taking place on its deck. Some bored captains decided to test their skills against each other while also betting on who was going to win. So far, the blackboard showed lots of bets being equally put on every contestant. Except for one senior captain who surprised everyone when he accepted to participate and even allowed fellow officers to gang up on him which resulted in lots of bruises and a broken rib for the ten naval officers who took him up. The only one who could have stood a chance was a pirate looking captain, if he didn’t have an eye patch or a peg leg, the rugged man would have dodged the attacks pretty well. Instead, Artin used the literal blind spot to place an uppercut, earning yet another victory.

   "How can you be so old and so strong! He could be the grandfather of my grandfather!" A beaten quartermaster exclaimed as he was being dragged to the infirmary with a bruised face.

   "Damn, Censo! You almost had him!" A sailor shouted towards the pirate looking captain.

   "I must admit that your footwork greatly improved for the last few months but it's still a shame that those foreigners blew off your leg." Artin declared, helping the crippled man to get up.

   After a few more victories, captain Artin brushed some dust off his coat and stretched his back, looking like someone who just got off bed. Despite his imposing size, very few managed to scratch him, not even his long beard which reached the base of his thick neck.

   “How is it possible to be that strong at your age, sir?” some young sailor asked, in awe.

   "Being old means being experienced, son. Now then, shall I leave the stage for the youngsters?" He asked as he noticed that the blackboard was one sided for him.

   While the men were fighting, the two women of the entire royal fleet were sitting in the captain's cabin, Afarin being captain of her own ship despite holding the title of admiral. The important officer quickly learnt that her adoptive daughter wasn't an Ahan but was crossbred just like herself though Faldo was more Ahas than human. 

   "Tell me again, why are you so friendly towards Picha?" Afarin asked with a serious face while rubbing her temples as if she was trying to focus.

   "Because he treats me well in bed, unlike everyone else." Faldo replied, with a very innocent look on her cute face.

   Afarin Hol had yet to give her name to the adopted daughter, at first she thought that she would name her similarity like her two human children called Valin and Alin, referencing the previous peace efforts of Valiamer-Almer. Despite their mother being part Ahas, those children didn’t inherit any of those genes, or at least, the visible ones. 

   The tired Hol didn't get the answer she wanted to hear. Again.

   "You were a concubine, it was expected. Now, you're the adopted daughter of the royal fleet admiral. People will treat you differently." Afarin explained with a sigh.

   "But only Picha made me feel loved." Faldo replied, hugging herself.

   "You were his concubine, you only meant sex for him. Your life doesn't only consist in serving food and cocks." The admiral snapped before remembering her excuse to adopt one of Olf's servants. "At least, not for the moment. You are my adopted daughter, your purpose has changed. Now, I repeat the question. Why are you so friendly towards that asshole Picha?"

   Faldo hesitated for a second, raising the hopes of her mother, but her answer didn't change. 

   "Because he treats me good in bed."

   The admiral's reaction was the same as the previous times she asked that same question, she exhaled in frustration and slammed her head against the desk, leaving a red mark on her olive skin. She didn't make any progress in the education of her daughter who still tried to get back to Picha. The only other topic they discussed, although briefly, was the adoptive mother's scar on her left forearm. Despite being inexperienced in life, Faldo could clearly see that those weren’t natural, as if those were self inflicted.

   "Why the snake in the circle again?" Faldo asked once again after that her adoptive mother accidentally displayed her shameful scar.

   "For the last time! Stop asking! You don’t have to know why I have this birth scar." An annoyed Afarin protested before covering it with her sleeve. "I don’t ask how that asshole takes you in bed, do I?!"

   Thanks to her loyal men, Afarin always managed to stop Faldo from reaching the port and her marines always brought the would-be runaway back to her mother who always asked why she tried to leave her fleet, with the same result every time.

   "I feel like you're doing it on purpose just to kill me with a heart attack." Afarin complained while rubbing her forehead, the number of white hair growing after each escape attempt.

   "Why?" Faldo asked with a tilt of the head, that would have melted Afarin's heart if she wasn’t annoyed at the moment.

   The admiral's patience had run short but instead of exploding, she deflated, sinking in her chair.

   "Never mind. Just… just don't get yourself in trouble until we get in contact with another Ahan delegation to try and prevent an open war. I know you don't care, but your biological mother was sent here for a reason." Afarin declared with a defeated look on her face before getting an idea. "You know what? Your new name will be Afardo, daughter of the fisherman's house: also known as Afar in the Her tongue. I'll make sure that my husband won't make an objection for you to get his name. I'll send the request for the official document tomorrow morning, so that I'll have more time to think it over."

   The newly named girl knew very little of most cultures but something made her feel attacked. She frowned.

   "Afardo, why does that sound rude?"

   "Because in Shashari, it means burden. So unless you behave, you'll be known as Burden in Ahas lands." Afarin told as her face started to wrinkle with a tired look. "I'm too old for this." The mother added with a sigh.

   The now named Afardo didn't look happy either, she was ready to protest when a young captain knocked on the door before entering without waiting for an invitation. The admiral looked at him funny as she didn't seem to recognise him, then again, she had around two hundred captains and commanders of small vessels under her command so she wasn't too weirded out. She got up and saluted him, expecting the same but the man didn't greet her properly which she found odd. Young Afardo's eyes lit up at his sight and a wide smile drew on her face, thankfully for her, her mother didn't notice as she was too focused on getting a proper reaction from the intruder, visibly annoyed and frustrated to get such indifferent treatment from a subordinate.

   "Usually, one would announce themselves if they meet their superior. From which naval school do you come from? Not Valiamer, that's for sure." Afarin annoyingly said as her ego was hurt by the rudeness.

   "That's Balso! He was the one taking me to Picha's bedroom the… " Afardo said before being interrupted by a hand gesture from the male captain.

   Afarin frowned at the gesture that she thought was aimed for her, she definitely disliked the young man from this point forward.

   "You're from Premer then. That explains. Care to explain your presence?"

   The young Premer officer pulled out a letter from under his vest and lobed it at the admiral who almost failed to catch it. The man held a chuckled as he witnessed the admiral fumbling to not drop the badly thrown message. The woman noticed it and was getting more and more annoyed. If she could, steam would come out of her ears.

   "Premer officers are still obliged to answer to any superior they are addressing to. So, captain Bal, what is the purpose of your presence here? Answer or I'll have you taken in custody until I'll say otherwise." The woman growled. "Artin, come welcome our guest!" Afarin barked with almost uncontrolled rage.

   The senior officer swiftly responded and after no more than a second later, the big man appeared in the doorframe, blocking the exit with his body. The admiral noticed the bruised knuckles of her subordinate and was glad that she authorised the sparring bits but her rage didn't fade, she was still boiling. 

   "We've got ourselves a mute Premer captain, who gave me a letter." Afarin explained while shooting death glares at the hostile man in front of her.

   The captain Artin turned his imposing body toward Balso who couldn't help but to be intimidated by the senior officer's presence.

   "Son, politeness is important for every naval officer. Now, answer to the admiral of the royal fleet." Artin calmly said while gesturing to a fuming Afarin.

   The Premer man's eyes darted between a smiling Afardo, a trembling from anger Afarin and a stoic Artin, it didn't take more convincing as he soon realized that he was stuck in a room between a raging admiral of the royal fleet and a big burly sea captain who was last seen fighting ten men on the deck of the boat he was in.

   "I was sent to deliver this letter to the admiral of Herikfer. The prime minister Merdosa Picha wants to have a word with the adopted daughter who's being restrained on this boat against her will." The man quickly answered when he thought he was about to be jumped on.

   Afarin quickly read the letter which was more vitriolic than what the young captain had said, going as far as calling her a traitor working for the Ahas. That word irked the mixed blood woman, who's annoyance couldn’t be any higher. She ripped the paper into pieces and angrily threw them at the Premer man's feet, though they never reached their target as they pitifully dropped a meter away from the woman.

   "Call your prime minister, or general, or right hand man Merdosa and tell him to say it to my face next time. Until she gets married, she will be my responsibility and I will take the decisions until then. And if he even suggests marrying her to himself or to one of his goons, I will refuse it." Afarin hissed, baring her fangs which were dripping with poison due to her rage.

   The admiral made a sign to her daughter to stay quiet and nodded to Artin to let the man go. She escorted the Premer captain to his rowboat but it was more like forcefully pushing him to walk faster. Her subordinates were surprised to see their leader be so physical and mean towards any naval officer, but they didn't interfere either as they were respectful towards the woman or because they didn’t want her anger aimed towards them.

   "Now don't forget to tell your shitty dick of a General that he can go fuck himself, not in a million years will he get any closer to my daughter! And that goes for any of you, understood?!" She yelled at the Premer seamen waiting in the rowboat.

   The young captain quickly left on his small vessel, giving a last sorry look at Afardo who innocently waved goodbye at him. Whether it was the maternal instinct or pure hatred, Afarin held tightly her adopted daughter in her arms before calling for her seamen’s attention with a shout. They all stood to attention, some even saluting her with their hand.

   "Herik's pride! I require your help. My adopted daughter Afardo will soon be politically married to an important individual. No matter what, keep her away from any and every Premer men unless I say otherwise! She will be the key to our kingdom's prosperity! Keep the key safe and you'll keep the future of the kingdom in good hands!" She roared. "Long live the Heri kingdom!"

   Hearing their admiral's roar outside of a battle speech was quite a rare sight but knowing her, the crew decided to go along and cheered with fervour. Afarin then pulled out a letter with the King's seal on it as she felt that she didn't rile them up enough.

   "Who are we?!" She yelled, her arms raised to the sky.

   Every sailor straightened their back at the same time, feeling a rush as they heard the admiral's raging voice that sent visceral emotions to their very soul. 

   "The mightiest fleet of the East Sea!" The seamen thundered as they pumped the sky with their clenched fist.

   Afarin got goosebumps from their immediate answer, drawing a carnivorous smile on her face as she continued in her momentum, as a fiery passion burnt in their eyes.

   "Who do we serve?!" She shouted while waving her letter with the royal seal.

   The men all stomped the floor with their feet, creating a booming sound which was exciting their admiral whose eyes looked fierce at that very moment.

   "The King Hedi!" Her men answered with even more dedication, staring at the letter as if it was the most important thing in their life.

   Being far too familiar with the display, Afarin was eagerly looking forward for what was going to happen. She knew exactly what her men were going to do next.

   "And our loyalty?!" She roared, being loud enough that her entire fleet could hear.

   "Absolute!" The voice of thousands boomed, which sent shivers down the admiral's spine, making her bare her teeth in a viscous smile.

   The crew members on nearby boats heard their screaming fleet admiral halfway through her rally and quickly joined the battlecry with pure zealotry, chanting and shouting a simple word that echoed in the harbour and its surrounding as the entire fleet had gotten the attention of the nearby dock workers.

   "Fires of the Heri kingdom! Herikfer! Herikfer!" Thousands of voices thundered.

   With goosebumps and hard nipples, the admiral basked in her talent for rallying her men, one of the only reasons she didn’t try to quit or job. She was less pleased when she realised that Afardo had disappeared yet again, thankfully for the mother, the troublemaker had actually joined a group of young captains who were bumping their fist on their chest. Afarin Hol only loved that part of being an admiral as she discreetly rubbed her chest, acting as if she was holding her hand on her heart.

   Lord Olf appreciated the noise made by the royal fleet as it covered the ones he made as he was grunting while his set of ornate plate armour was being strapped on him by a squire who closed the straps a bit too tight for the city ruler. The tall and powerful man had an appointment with the small army of the Order that had set up camp not far from his city. With his retinue and a small cohort, he sallied out of the gate at the head of his group, passing by the engineers who were repairing the damaged doors. He proudly wore his ceremonial armour which was painted in blue and decorated with an inlaid gold picture of a water dragon, the symbol of his city. He wanted to impress the ones he was going to meet but something in the back of his mind pushed him to send scouts and archers ahead of him with the order of attacking if there was any hostilities. Olf was surprised to finally meet the small foreign force that had been observing them during the Ahas siege.

   "Lord Olf, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." A mage on horseback greeted when the lord's group stopped in front of the tent.

   The regal man saluted the spell caster who he recognised from a previous meeting with one of their delegation, though he only knew him as Browning.

   "Likewise." Olf replied while looking at the three hundred soldiers in full plate armour, which was way more than his own personal guard.

   "Impressive, isn't it?" Browning boasted when he noticed the gaze of his interlocutor. "They could be yours if you accept our deal." he added with a movement of the eyebrow.

   The man looked pretty laid back, his shoulders were relaxed and he was lazily holding onto the leash, giving the impression that he was taking the meeting lightly with the lord who didn't mind.

   "First, Ahas slaves, and now an army of iron golems? What kind of nation are you?" Lord said with a suspicious look.

   Browning chuckled at the demeanour and waved it off as if it was nothing, visibly unfazed by the suspicious ruler.

   "The house of Brown has many specialists, Lord Olf. You're also facing one of them, my fellow mages are specialists in their own domain as well." The man boasted. "Mike, Tony, John, Will, come greet lord Olf."

   Four other mages left the tent and saluted, none had any magic staff or gems on them which aroused the lord's suspicion. It was common knowledge that mages could cast spells without any of these items, but it required more effort and often resulted in headaches, with temporary loss of sensory feeling at worst. That's why a catalyst was necessary to either contain or store both spells and energy for long periods of time.

   "What do you gain from giving all of this to this particular city? Why not Valiamer or Himer which is closer to your Charliemer?"

   "Ah, Charlie! It's actually more simple than you think. The Hiport is too small and Valiaport is too far away from any resources that interest us. As for why all the gifts? Having access to your minerals with less taxations is worth the effort. Call this long term investment." The mage chuckled. "Now then, Lord Olf. Why did you come in person?"

   "It's a matter of goodwill and trust, sending an emissary can easily backfire."

   Browning shrugged at the answer that he still thought of stupid. His fellow mages suddenly felt homesick at the mention of the Charlie outpost, clenching the fabric near their heart.

   "If you say so. Well, shall we discuss the terms of our trade route while on horseback or while sitting comfortably around a table?" The mage proposed, showing the tent with a jerk of the head.

   Lord Olf didn't trust the spell caster, instead he raised his hand to politely decline. That action didn't seem to have bothered the interlocutor either way, looking mildly interested in their own conversation.

   "I prefer staying on my horse, it isn't everyday I get to see such an impressive magical army."

   "If you say so. But you should hurry up before my lord gets impatient and decides to look elsewhere, taking back all the advantages we've proposed to you." Browning pushed.

   "I'm not worried, as we speak, diplomats are heading to Charliemer to handle the negotiations in my stead."

   The mage let out a chuckle and gave a sly grin. It was his cue to start being aggressive. His English accent was quickly replaced by a Herik dialect spoken by Lord Olf: Meeri.

   "We are well aware of this, but if they ever accept, they will be the ones in charge of collecting the taxes and receiving military aid against the Ahas invasion. Not you, nor your city. Don't make a decision that you would regret."

   "That's where you're wrong. We still have some assets against them, and the key to our success is well secured and more than likely unaffected by bribes. The delegation is only going to smooth our relations without accepting to let you have access to our resources."

   Feeling like he was negotiating with a wall, Browning barely managed to hide his irritation and impatience.

   "You're still going to refuse our generous offer, aren't you? Well, it's quite a shame really. I guess we'll be on our way back then. Have a safe trip, Lord Olf of Preport." The mage replied while giving a wide smile that showed his perfect dentition.

   The spell caster gave a hand sign to his colleagues who waved at the immobile army that immediately formed a column. The small group of the Order simply left, leaving their empty tent behind as they were gone in a matter of minutes. Olf had a bad feeling as the last sentence of the mage echoed in his head, making him frown as he watched them leave so quickly. Receiving no news from his scouts, the master of Premer decided to return as well. On his way back, as he could finally see the wall from the edge of the forest, his mind wandered as he remembered that he never said anything about removing the enemy corpses at the base of the ramparts. But then again, that was probably the work of his serfs because leaving rotting corpses was asking for disaster to happen, no sane ruler would want to start yet another wave of plague in the kingdom.

   As he turned to his followers, he found himself surrounded by Ahas dressed with rags and armour taken from the aftermath of the siege, some clothes were even stained with dried blood. Without any hesitation, the lord drew his sword and charged at the nearest ambusher, who only had a broken sword as a weapon, and slashed at the enemy's torso, bending it inward and making an horrific cracking noise as the sword man was thrown back a few meters. The rest of the lord's retinue didn't have his luck as dozens of Ahas had appeared from underneath their horse, those unlucky animals had been stabbed which made their rider fall off. The attack had taken most of them by surprise but the chaos was only beginning as those who fell were quickly stabbed to death by anything that was sharp, one could notice that one of the attackers only had a broken knife. Olf knew that he had to act quickly before they were slaughtered, he spotted a small group of his men that were holding off, he joined them while swinging his sword at any enemy in his path, trampling some and knocking down most of them.

   "My Lord! They're everywhere, we're surrounded!" A horseman with a spear cried as he saw his lord approaching.

   "We need to regroup and repel them! Everyone, on me!" Olf screamed as he stabbed an Ahas in the back.

   His escort followed his command and converged towards him with some casualties on the way. At this point, he had lost a fifth of his men in the initial attack. Once a good amount of horse riders were at his side, launched a breakout charge. That's when he noticed the corpses of the scouts and archers he had sent earlier, they had been mauled to death and piled up near the edge of the forest.

   "We will rescue those who have been cut off by charging at the enemy while their backs are turned!" The lord declared as he didn't feel like abandoning any of his men.

   He lead the charge with determination, even trampling an Ahas who stood on his path, he didn't look behind but he knew that the person was incapacitated as he heard the horrific sounds of broken bones. Once they were far enough, they turned and charged towards the ambushers who were surrounding the rest of Olf's forces. Some enemies had stopped attacking and took a defensive position by forming a spear line but most of those weapons were broken or were even missing their metal tip. The charge was successful enough to divert most of the ambushing force to repel the horsemen but they were numerous enough to not suffer any lack of manpower. As the cavalrymen clashed with the poorly armed Ahas, the defensive line didn't panic nor flinched even as they were being mowed down, hacked and cleaved, spewing their stinking guts and blackened blood all over the place. 

   "They may be outnumbering us, but we're stronger than them!" Olf shouted as he slashed an Ahas in the throat, making the body lifelessly drop on the bloodstained grass.

   With his assault, he managed to save a handful of soldiers who were closer to the edge of the forest. The cavaliers followed him as he was going to lead another cavalry charge, he repeated the process until he retrieved everyone of his men who could still stand or ride. As he retreated towards the city, he took the time to look at the remaining of his battered retinue. His followers were all exhausted and bloodied but they were still breathing, for him it was all that mattered as he would let his city healers handle the rest later. In the end, of the hundred cavaliers that escorted the lord, around thirty of them perished in the ambush, which both saddened and relieved him, but regrets were beginning to invade his mind.

   "What about the Ahas, my lord?" a horseman asked as they were galloping towards the main gate.

   The nameless horse rider looked tired, with small cuts all over his lower body. 

   "We will send guards to deal with them and possibly find the rest of their troops." Lord Olf said as he looked behind him. "I will bury my men in my city."

   He was more than surprised to see that the Ahas were dropping on the ground like lifeless puppets. He slowed down his horse and made a U turn while avoiding his unsuspecting followers in tow, thankfully for them they easily managed to stir away from their leader. The attackers were all lying down, some in uncomfortable positions like an upside down V or with their head bent at a ninety degree angle against a tree. Lord Olf wasn't an expert in Ahas anatomy but those poses wouldn't be doable under normal circumstances, feeling lucky he decided to go investigate alone after sending back the rest of his retinue, reassuring them if they protested. As the lone man approached the path filled with corpses and surrounded by dense vegetation stained with blood and gore, he heard something from behind some thick bushes.

   "Wait… Are you sure we took the right turn, Marcus?" a high pitched voice muffled by a metallic helmet asked.

   Lord Olf faintly heard the person and raised his sword, ready to strike down the one who was walking his way. He waited for the stranger to appear from the hiding spot, only to find two people with a satchel, one was clearly a human peasant who was extremely tall while having muscles almost twice the size of the average citizen and carrying a woodcutting axe on his shoulder. The other one was some sort of mercenary with a sword in a sheat dangling on the right hip, said person wore minimal armour yet sturdy one that looked like it came from Hedicart's blacksmith district judging by its advanced forged techniques that showed small decorations on the breastplate. The pair quickly stopped when they saw Olf with his arm raised.

   "Holy cow! That's some impressive armour!" Exclaimed the mercenary that sounded like a woman under the helmet.

   "Um… greetings, Lord Old. Was this your doing?" the peasant asked while trying to not stare at corpses.

   Olf didn't let his guard down since he wasn't sure of the affiliation of either of these two strangers but he recognised some Ahas accent coming from them. Their Meeri was a little odd, spoken like a foreigner.

   "Where did you come from? Are you affiliated with the Ahas?" The man asked, pondering whether or not he should strike them down.

   The two exchanged a look as they jumped at the mention of Ahas, the mercenary looked at the sheathed sword then at Lord Olf's which was already raised.

   "We've traded there before, we have some knowledge about them. Now we were checking if there was no woodcutter's cabin in the forest. We're looking to create a small business in Premer but we weren't sure if we needed some sort of permit." The armored stranger replied calmly.

   Feeling like he had the edge, and mostly because his arm was getting tired, Lord Olf lowered his sword but was still ready to attack. He had already dealt with wannabe merchants a few days ago, refusing their more-than-likely stolen goods.

   "You don't sound like you're from coastal regions. Our policy is to privilege local enterprise when it comes to natural resources, unless you work for a Premer citizen, you won't be able to harvest freely. We don't want to ruin the balance of our economy."

   The mercenary seemed thoughtful, rubbing the chin of the well crafted helmet.

   "So, as long as it's under a local citizen, we'd be clear to go. We only have Ahas slaves at hands and our funds are pretty limited. Is there any way to circumvent this policy? Though we won't give you our slaves since they cost us a lot of money and they haven't got to work yet."

   Olf perked up at the mention of Ahas and remembered why he was there in the first place. He looked at the corpses which emanated putrid smells with some maggots gathering around open wounds that were spewing bile and other disgusting fluids.

   "Well since you're some kind of travellers, I guess I could employ you as mercenaries or auxiliaries. As you can see we've recently been attacked by Ahas. From your knowledge of them, I'd like you to tell me what you can gather from this aftermath."

   "Now?" The high pitched mercenary hesitantly asked.

   "Now, while it's still fresh." Lord Olf ordered while putting away his weapon, confident that these two won’t try anything fishy.

   The pair nonchalantly shrugged. The masked swordsman prodded a nearby corpse with the foot, which immediately made the wound squirt blackened blood, spilling on the leather boots. The putrid odour was too much and the mercenary quickly opened the helmet to puke away from the corpse.

   "First time seeing a battlefield, blondie? Well, the smell is pretty bad." Lord Olf said while watching the person vomit, amused by the situation.

   "That's not how corpses work!" The blondie protested after vomiting.

   The peasant, on the other hand, seemed to be unfazed by the sight as he picked up a severed arm and looked inside, inserting two fingers to part away the muscles and bones. He pondered before dropping the limb on the floor with a wet thud.

   "They seem to have been long dead, more than a day that's for sure. The body is cold and flaccid, as you can see. We haven't really dissected an Ahan corpse before, so I'm not too sure about it." The big guy calmly explained, seemingly unfazed.

   "Cold you say? Interesting. I should have brought a scribe with me." Lord Olf regretted as he spotted a corpse in a robe, a former scribe.

   Thankfully for him, the blondie raised his hand and showed some rolled up parchments and a vial of ink from the satchel, typically carried by itinerant merchants. Lord Olf Premer agreed to let the person write but he was still surprised to find a literate mercenary who carried writing material with him.

   "By the way, what are your names if you have one? It'll be easier to call you by something other than 'you'." The city ruler asked, feeling more at ease with competent people around him, especially on the aftermath of a battlefield.

   "I'm Smith and the big guy is Gogh."

   "A son of a blacksmith, that explains your armour. But the word Gogh doesn't ring a bell."

   "It's a small town from another continent, Lord Olf.'' Smith explained as Gogh didn't seem to know the answer.

   "Well, it isn't out of the ordinary to meet a pair of travellers from such status, most merchants I met were weavers, wealthy farmers and sons of nobles who travelled with serfs or bodyguards. Though I've never heard of literate bodyguards."

   Marcus Gogh was no forensic expert but having dealt with cutting injuries made him somewhat knowledgeable, not to mention a couple of unfortunate critters that were killed during lumber enterprises. For some unknown reason, the young man appeared calm and collected, being ankle deep in a pile of guts. He inspected a torso without touching it, when he pushed it on the side with his axe, he noticed a metallic point that was protruding from the back. He decided to leave the thing stuck inside the body as the smell was getting nauseating and the torso was leaking blackened blood. During that time, Smith was writing down the information while trying to not throw up.

   "Are spears supposed to be able to penetrate leather armour?" Gogh asked.

   "Even cheap leather armour can stop a thrusting sword, as for a cavalry spear, they're not made to pierce but to knock over. Wait, was it a rhetorical question?" Lord Olf answered, realising that Gogh may have tested his knowledge for some reason.

   "Then what could pierce leather armour and go so deep in it?"

   "Pierce it? Iron arrows? But how deep are you talking?" Lord Olf asked while getting closer to Gogh who pointed at the metallic tip, the nobleman looked at the shape and recognised the design. "That's an armour piercing ballista bolt. That's odd. We didn't have a ballista when we were ambushed. It was only during the siege a week ago."

   It didn't take them long to realise that something was definitely wrong, from the rotten corpses to the odd injuries that couldn't have been done during the surprise attack. They quickly linked it to the previous Ahas siege, since some bodies had burnt marks and crushed organs while their armour looked fine if not dented, as if to hide the fatal injuries.

   "That's quite some necromancy fuckery." Smith declared in a tongue Olf didn't understand.

   "What did he say?" 

   "Smith said that it's the work of a necromancer, lord Olf."

   "Then that puts the Ahas army out of the picture, I highly doubt that they have strong competent mages. That leaves either the Order or someone from the city. I don't think that there's a spy in the royal fleet but I can never be too sure. Did you say that you have Ahas slaves?

   "Yes we do, is there something with it?"

   "Then use them to gather information for me, I'll give you some permits for sending them to work in the different parts of the city. This kind of slaves is rare but not out of the ordinary, they should blend in without too much problem."

   "I don't intend on disrespecting you, lord Olf. But why would you trust us?" Smith asked after finishing taking notes.

   "I don't fully trust you, after all we only met a few minutes ago. But I know that outsiders will have a more neutral point of view and beside, you're sons of men with status travelling with foreign slaves, that says a lot about you. You'll have to report directly to me when you have good information, I'll compensate you and might reward you with citizenship. How about that?"

   The peasant and the mercenary shared a look, talked in a foreign language but from their body language, they seemed to be arguing over whether or not they should accept. To Lord Premer's surprise, the person in armour, who he thought was some kind of bodyguard, was quite bossy as he authoritatively pointed at Gogh with a finger and the big man seemed compliant. After a brief moment, they turned to Olf and nodded.

   "It's an honour to work for you, Lord Olf Premer. We swear to complete the mission you bestowed upon us." They said at the same time.

   "Then it's settled. But before we go back to my castle, I'd like to know your race, Smith."

   Not even surprised by the request, the person took off the helmet to reveal the face of a woman who was slightly younger than the lord, she was indeed a blonde with a nice slick haircut. She also had some glasses which reminded Olf of the director of the mage school.

   "The elder daughter of a rich blacksmith, I'm impressed. I supposed that with your age you're also married to someone important?" 

   "As a matter of fact, I am, he's the head of a somewhat successful business. Now then, lord Olf. As you can see I'm purely human. Even M… Gogh is human despite his appearance."

   Marcus Gogh scratched his head with visible embarrassment. Olf was pleased enough with what he'd learned today and took back his new information gatherers, offering some gold as payment for the work they did while investigating the battleground. Though he failed to restrain himself to present them to the nobles at his court, he knew that it was for his best interest to keep their identity a secret but having met such interesting people got him way too excited.

   "This is Fordo, from a wealthy blacksmith." Lord Olf declared, looking at Karen. "And this is Goghso, from a far away town. They will be my guests in Premer, I hope you'll treat them well." He said, presenting Marcus and Karen who bowed their heads.

   Meanwhile, a messenger from Valiart arrived in the city after taking a two day trip, he was grumpy after being sent to deliver one single letter that didn't have any importance for the well being of the kingdom. If it wasn't for Lord Alm who saved his father's life during the plague, the messenger would have refused to do the job, though the pay was supposed to be good too.

   When he had to take a rowboat to get on the vessel of the admiral of the royal fleet, he realised that maybe the letter he carried wasn't that useless. But it still felt a bit weird, since the important man who sent him wasn’t ruling over a maritime city, but a hub town that didn’t directly interact with any naval fleets.

   "Hello, quartermaster. I'm looking for the admiral Afarin Hol, I've got a message for her." The still a bit grumpy courier asked an officer with a long cape.

   The man quickly directed the messenger to the captain's cabin where a screaming woman could be heard from behind the door. He felt that his mission was probably going to be difficult but he gathered his courage and knocked.

   "Come in!" The woman shouted.

   "Admiral Afarin, I have a letter from Lord Alm." He announced as he walked in.

   To the messenger's shock, the admiral was standing on her desk while another woman was holding a handful of letters with Lord Alm's wax seal on them. The courier knew that Afarin was a female officer who wasn't entirely human but he didn't think she was old enough to be his mother, which was weird considering that normal admirals were usually old, experienced people. The messenger realised that the younger person was an Ahas, from her skin colour and her fangs, he quickly hid Alm's letter he had behind his back.

   "I… I can come back later?" He asked, ready to leave.

   "If you restrain her, I'll pay double the fee!" The admiral yelled from her desk.

   He shrugged and lunged at the Ahas girl who had her back turned to him, she didn't see him coming. Thankfully, she was easily subdued with her hands tied in her back while she was lying on her stomach. She was grumbling and struggling in vain. 

   "Well, thank you, messenger. You take gold or Herik currency?" The mature woman asked, opening a drawer he couldn't see.

   "Herik currency, please. Also who's this Ahas woman?" He asked but realised that she had stopped listening to him.

   The thankful Afarin pulled out a pouch full of coins with the head of the king on them and carefully threw it to the messenger who easily caught it, checking if it was the right amount. His look of surprise seemed to have brought a smile on the old lady's face, the white strands in her hair making her look even older.

   "And that's for keeping you silent from what happened here. Don't mind my adopted daughter's behaviour, you know the reputation of Ahas, right?"

   "She's an Ahas?" The young man innocently asked.

   The generous client nodded.

   "She's part Ahan but she's more snake than human. By the way, since you're here, how's Lord Alm? I heard that Valiart is in political turmoil with the disappearance of the king's brother."

   The messenger was so used to having quiet or nonchalant clients that he was surprised to have such a long conversation.

   "And here I thought you were an out of touch old woman!" He laughed and so did she. "He's fine, he was quite busy with treating the injuries of a fight between nobles who accused each other of kidnapping."

   Finding the young messenger charming, she took a liking to his forwardness despite his lack of naval rank. Or maybe it was her maternal instinct, she wasn’t sure.

   "Typical. Also don't disrespect your elder, I may be thirty four but I'm not deaf yet." Afarin giggled with a warm smile. "I could be your parents' aunt of all you know."

   The messenger laughed and bid farewell to the admiral who he had imagined was a loud mouthed person but he was pleased to see that he was wrong.

   "Have a nice day, admiral. I hope the letter was worth the trouble."

   "If it's from lord Alm, they always are. Have a safe trip."

   The admiral was more than happy to receive news about the lord's adopted children, Abfir and Ehilrt, who had yet another misadventure

---

Chapter 18: under influence

  It had been a week since Jacob's breakdown, Abby had been relentless with Daniel's attention, hugging him more than usual while whispering her fantasies to him in hopes of him fulfilling them. To Jack's amusement, they acted like a cute couple though it was more one sided with Dan trying to stop her from being too physical when the young man vowed to be chaste for a year. But one day he had to step in when the insatiable woman barged in the living room wearing nothing but a candy g-string and a lustful expression on her face that would put sex maniacs to shame. She pounced on the poor man who was lying on the couch but got caught midair by Jacob who, with her momentum, threw her on his back, carrying Abby like a bag of potato.

  "I'll take care of her, bro." He said to Daniel before leaving with the horny girl.

  The startled man was relieved as he didn't know if he'd survive another wild ride with the lust driven woman who changed personality after his oral session in the showers. She had often jumped on him, begging him to kiss her again and again. The annoyed Jacob threw his cousin on her bed and she landed softly but gave him a hateful glare with a growl. He snapped his finger at her to stop her from doing anything, she growled a bit quieter so he snapped again and she went silent.

  "I'm not letting Daniel become the next Arthur, Morena!" Jacob protested, remembering the poor man.

  The tan Abby threw her pillow, with a frown, that the man easily dodged by stepping aside.

  "My name is Abby!" She barked before getting snapped at, calming her for a short moment.

  "Daniel isn't your fuck toy! He's our friend!" Jacob sternly reminded his cousin.

  Abby's mind was still fuzzy, despite not completely understand what was going on, she still felt anger towards the person who stopped her from feeling Daniel's touch.

  "I know!" She replied with frustration.

  "No, you don't! You're back into sexual overload mode! Your parents won't pay for another therapy, Abby!" Jacob snapped back at her reaction.

  She was ready to lunge at him, tensing the muscles in her legs but the finger snapping technique calmed her impulse, it was always stopping her train of thoughts in an instant.

  "I'm not crazy!" She whined.

  "Then stop acting like a crazy nympho, what did Daniel do to you to send you into a sex maniac mode again?"

  The mere question sparked another wild fantasy in Abby's mind, imagining Daniel exploring her body, with his tongue entering her warm slit to scrape her walls.

  "The same thing my ex boyfriend did to me, he kissed me on the lips." She replied, fondling her chest while daydreaming of Daniel's tongue.

  "God damn it, Dan!" Jack yelled, shaking his fist in the air like a comical villain. "Why did you let him do that? You know you're weak when men do that to you."

  Abby slid her hand down her candy string, rubbing her moist entrance with her juice mixing with the sugar and leaving a nasty stain on her bedsheets.

  "He wanted to please me, there's nothing wrong with that. Unlike Arthur, he knows how to use his hands. I want him to lick and kiss me more, I want his tongue." She explained with a moan.

  "Oh my god, Abby! Stop being a hoe!" Jacob exclaimed while rolling his eyes.

  It took a few more finger snapping before the girl came back to her senses and stopped touching herself, every time she reached for her nether region, he would make that sharp noise that stopped her in her tracks. After being tamed like an animal, Abby let out a groan as she realised what she was doing, also the candy string was soaked with her juice and she didn't like the sticky feeling on her crotch. She lifted her hand to her face to hide her embarrassment, having forgotten that her hand was sticky.

  "I did it again, didn't I?" She asked, annoyed.

  "Yes, just look at you. Go take a cold shower and try to not fuck it up again."

  With a sigh, Abby lazily leaned back on the bed and reached for a shirt that was lying on it, she mechanically put it on with a sad look on her face. As the realisation was slowly sinking in, Abby felt some shame for her recent acts of luxury through the week, it was only visible with her frown.

  "Can't promise that, but I'll try my best. We should find a substitute for Dan. I feel bad for hooking him up on daily romps."

  "We?!" Jacob exclaimed, offended.

  "Yeah, it was your idea to let us meet after so long. I may not be in love with Dan, but I'm not a bitch either. I want him to be happy, and so do you, right?"

  "Look, he's an adult, he can make his own decisions and he doesn't need our help to find love. You two aren't horny teenagers anymore."

  She was about to reply to him when they heard a knock on the door, it was Daniel who announced himself before entering. Abby was always happy to see him, so her frown quickly turned upside down.

  "I heard screaming, are you okay?" He asked before noticing Abby's choice of clothing, which he couldn’t help but find appealing.

  Young Daniel repressed a boner and focused on Jacob who already had his phone to his ear. Abby used the distraction to get a clean pair of underwear and some pants, she was struggling to put on the jeans over her well rounded ass that when she finished, she noticed that Dan and Jack had come to an agreement and were shaking hands. The woman secretly cursed that she shrunk the clothes in the washing machine.

  "I feel like I missed something." She declared with some uncertainties, feeling slightly uncomfortable with a tight pair of pants.

  Dan turned to her and gave her a beautiful smile that made her heart flutter.

  "Jack explained everything to me, I agreed to never eat you out until you get yourself sorted out." He declared with a lot of good will, though it sounded a bit weird.

  Abby's heart melted and she couldn't help herself but let out a thankful 'aww'. Jacob was ready to snap his finger to stop the wild girl but he didn't need to as Daniel took the cute woman in his arms, giving her a hug and whispering something in her ear that made her shyly smile. He broke the embrace and kneeled in front of her, to the surprise of the other two.

  "Abby, will you be my girlfriend from now on? Ever since I rejected your proposition, I kept regretting it with every moment we spent together."

  Abby went silent, shocked and overwhelmed. She began breathing rapidly with tears in her eyes. Daniel remembered that he promised his friend and himself to never make her cry unless it's from joy, so he was hesitant on how to react. She held his face with both hand, gave him a long passionate kiss on the lips and before Jacob could applaud, she said with a voice torn by pain:

  "I can't. I can't reciprocate your love. I let go. I just want to have a casual relationship. I want you to experience more in life than being wedlocked with the first girl that you slept with. Dan, I don't want you to get hurt because of me or my work. I love you too much for you to waste your life on me." She managed to say before her sorrow took over and she began crying uncontrollably.

  The two young men moved in and hugged her as rivers of tears ran down her beautiful cheeks. Daniel decided to be mature on her decision and half-heartedly accepted it, only wanting her happiness as she wanted his. He had to let go of her like she did for him, putting aside his selfish desire so that they could still be happy without being together. Jacob empathised with his weird cousin but didn't hold grudge with his best friend as he understood their feelings, he too had a crush on a girl he still hasn't proposed yet. The crying Abby wished that the moment would last forever, being held close by those she loved, but she slowly came to peace with herself  and with every drop she let out. And for what felt like a very brief moment, the group hug ended ten minutes later.

  "Let's get something to eat." Jack proposed while low-key expecting for his cousin to say something lewd.

  With a last snort, Abby rummaged through her luggage and pulled out a CD box with 'MOVIE' written on it by a sharpie. Daniel remembered it as he was the one who wrote the word and who burned movies on it.

  "Movie night? I've got some good stuff there." Abby told them, smiling smugly at Dan.

  The boys felt like letting her decide and went along. The first film she had selected was one of those King Arthur stories with a big budget. Abby, who was sitting between them, absentmindedly rested her head on Daniel's shoulder while Jacob was her footrest. They pampered her as much as they could, taking snacks directly to her mouth and massaging her calves. Jack wasn't too comfortable giving massages to his cousin but with the recent event, he let it slide for the time being. The trio slowly forgot their problem for the duration of the movie, grim faces turned into smiles and laughs as they commented on the absurdities of the plot.

  "Dude, I could beat this guy easily." Abby declared.

  "Yeah sure, everyone could beat him." Jacob replied, rolling his eyes.

  "You're stronger than me, so maybe it's plausible?" Daniel proposed.

  At the end of the session, their wounds had closed and could begin to heal over time. Jack let the other two go to sleep in Dan's bedroom, who became used to lying next to a gorgeous naked woman, Abby would snuggle against him with her butt turned towards him. They adopted a routine where she would hug him for a moment before turning her back to him, sleeping back-to-back, that was of course if she didn’t mount him for some late night fun.

  Daniel realised that he may never sleep with her as his girlfriend but at least it was as his girl friend. Somewhat at peace, he quickly fell into slumber and had a lucid dream of a future with her as a wife, then everything faded to black and he found himself bound to a chair, incapable of moving his body. He was in a pitch black place, filled with a constant ringing in his head that clouded his thoughts. A feminine floating figure appeared in front of him, the noise stopped and a bright green aura bathed the womanly silhouette that approached a few metres in front of him, she was three times taller than him and with well defined curves.

  "A Man? Who are you?" The mysterious person asked with a voice composed of a thousand feminine ones echoing in his mind.

  Dan tried to turn away from the blinding bright light but he was still immobilised.

  "Daniel, but who are you?" Dan tried to say with his mouth but only his thoughts resonated in the room.

  His answer didn’t please the entity as the young man could feel an enormous pressure on his body.

  "You aren't the one I need. Forget about this encounter." The multiple voices said in unison before the figure disappeared in a flash.

  Daniel woke up in a sweat and noticed Abby, emitting a faint green aura, squirming as if she was having a vivid nightmare, she whimpered and shivered. He turned toward her and hugged to comfort the girl who got calmer with a purr as the lights quickly faded away. He suddenly got a splitting headache.

  "Don't get in my way again." A voice said while a buzzing sound could be heard until it disappeared with a popping sound.

  He didn't know what it meant but if it was to protect Abby, he'd do it again in a heartbeat. Not wanting to let his guard down, he stayed awake to see if anything unusual would happen but after some time he fell asleep, spooning the beautiful girl in his bed.

[Cath]

Chapter 19: restraints

  Lord Falmer was back to the city of Falmero, which was dubbed the machine of war for its focus of creating big strong armies that used to crush any invasion forces in the past. It was perfectly placed near a mountain that contained veins of irons and a wide river that led to the sea towards the main continent. The Ahas city had sturdy stone walls and was divided in four by small wooden palisades that were constantly guarded. Falmero's castle stood in the middle, entirely painted in green in contrast to the average buildings and houses that harboured cream colours that were used to fight against the heat of the long hot summers. The lord entered via the main gate and was welcomed by his people who were shocked to see that his army size hadn't changed when he left to invade the mainland, though the faces weren't the same. The heads of the four city districts were waiting for his return and as soon as he stepped inside the walls, they saluted him by throwing the head of a human man at his feet. Like every citizen, they wore a veil that protected them from the heat of the sun, the only difference being the different logo of their district on the cloth.

   "What happened to counsellor Arthur?" Falmer Ahs asked as he met the empty look on the severed head that looked tired and beaten.

   The crowd was agitated by the sight.

   "He admitted his involvement with the Order, he was in contact with them via a metal box." A district director explained, wearing the insignia of a sword on his necklace and veil.

   Before Falmer could ask for an explanation, another one spoke up.

   "He managed to destroy it before we could inspect it." Another man added, bearing the picture of a hammer on his gloves and his headgear, showing that he was the director of the workshop district. "It used some kind of magic spell as it sparked a few times."

   Falmer was too tired from the journey that he decided to carry on with the rest of his army, which most soldiers were only a week old. But knowing that there was nothing else for its purpose, he disbanded it and it was now the job of the scribes and city officials to find their family house; those who lost their entire lineage were sent to Falmer's castle garrison, working as personal guards. As the lord was slowly making his way to his domain, the heads of the city districts followed him, telling him about its developments and giving various reports that he barely listened to, instead taking in the sight of the streets he had missed during his campaign abroad. From the old cobblestone roads polished by time and people walking on them, to the well maintained facades of the different buildings along the way.

   "How are my son and my daughters? Have they grown well?" Falmer asked as he approached the castle gates and his stomach was in a knot.

   The man with a sword insignia, who was in charge of the army district, quietly grunted at the question. His role was to oversee anything that involved training recruits, equipping them and lodging them, his district was the second largest of the city as it counted more than tens of thousands of soldiers stationed in the big and tall barracks.

   "Your son, Aswan Falmer, has begun squire training at the academy by the workshop district. As for your daughters… we've sent them to study at Aldo's school to become scholars of humanology, like you asked us. They are under my son's watchful guidance." The man of the workshop district explained while they were approaching the castle.

   The two guards of the gate opened the door for the lord after saluting him. The courtyard was nearly empty, only a gardener could be seen raking some leaves from the lone tree in the centre. The place had been neatly kept as the pavements were free of dirt or dust while the walls had received a fresh makeover of green paint. 

   "How old do they look now?" Falmer asked as he stepped in the castle's rampart.

   "Aswan looks midway past an old child, Aysan looks like an early young adult and Azwan looks like a late juvenile." A woman spoke, she was the head of the breeding district and wore its insignia of a snake in an egg figure; those symbols were on every piece of clothing she had.

   Falmer's heart felt like it was bleeding as he clenched his fist on his chest, his doubts and worries confirmed once and for all. His followers could clearly see the pain and nodded at him to show their concern which he thanked them with a grunt.

   "We made sure that your lineage is well protected and cared after, Lord Falmer. Don't worry about them not entering the magic academy, if they prove themselves valuable assets, even the council of the elders will recognise them." The fourth head of the district said, the one who hasn’t spoken until then.

   The last one was in charge of the average citizen, those who didn't directly partake into the war industry, be it the baker or the farmer or even the miner. The fourth district was the biggest of them all, composing a third of the whole city. The man in charge had the heart insignia with a pickaxe and a scythe on it, unlike the other three directors, he didn’t wear any protective gear such as leather armbands or gambison.

   "It still won't bring back my wife nor their developing period. I'm regretting embarking on this punitive expedition with such a small army, too many have skipped the critical period we've experienced as children. I even lost mister Messenger during the retreat, the last surviving member of the family should be behind enemy lines." Falmer explained, with dread in his voice.

   Falmer and his group arrived in the throne room where he sat, facing them all as they bowed their heads in reverence. The army district had a confident director who always stood straight and proud, with his fists on his hips if those weren’t on his mace, while the man overseeing the biggest part of the city looked tired with his arms hanging from his sore shoulders. The organiser of the workshop district stood closer to the lord of Falmero, having grown together in their childhood, and had his arms crossed on his chest, which made him look severe, even more than the army director. The only person who was always carrying a staff, was the overseer of the breeding district, displaying her role as a priest in a minor church in her district, the sceptre was adorned with a metallic symbol already shown on her clothes.

   "What about your vow to always accomplish your mission, my lord?" The army director asked as he approached the table in the middle of the room.

   There was a map showing the Ahas lands and a part of the mainland. Falmer lazily pointed the map from his throne, designating the general direction of Premer. To confirm the area, the workshop director walked to the piece of paper, putting his finger on Premer's location.

   "It has been completed, but not in the way I anticipated it. The goal was to get inside Predo, or as they call it Premer, to unveil the mystery behind the disappearance of the delegation sent to negotiate trade routes. I had planned on them surrendering and giving full power to us, but they received quick reinforcements from their royal fleet. Too quick. It should have taken them a month to gather an army or get rid of our naval decoys. Their mages made short work with my men, as expected from a race with lots of magic caster."

   Falmer let out a long annoyed sigh, his district directors stared in silence as the man continued his story, the workshop director rubbing his shin behind his veil.

   "But the Argo promised to help us, they sent two agents there to gather information before they sent a human team to investigate. I doubt they'll discover anything after a month but they will be useful for future plans." Falmer declared before standing up. "In the meantime, we will prepare for a full blown invasion of the Heri kingdom. If we can't secure our trade route through diplomacy, it will be by force. They have a strong advantage over us, with their magic and their navy but we will crush them the Ahas way."

   To the mention of the enemy's naval capabilities, the directors winced, especially the one of the breeding district as she rubbed her left forearm.

   "As you wish, Lord Falmer!" The four replied at the same time, knowing that they still had an advantage against the humans.

   "We need to contact the other lords and the council of elders for a bigger army and prepare our defences because once we've launch the attack, they will retaliate." He explained before pointing to Valiamer. "But I’m confident in our victory. It's time that the Ahas finally get some ground on the mainland and probably reclaim the maritime city of Valia."

   Someone's laugh revealed themselves from behind a pillar. It was a redhead woman wearing a breastplate and carrying a crossbow with a stock of bolts above it, similar to a chu ko nu, a Chinese repeating crossbow. The person put down the head of the former counsellor on the table next to the map, making sure to not stain it with blood.

   "Looks like you've got rid of Arthur, guys. But Valiamer will be impossible to penetrate with your current armament. Maybe you'd like to listen to the offers the Order has?" Amy Moore cheekily said in a weird accent for the Ahas. "What says you, Falmer?"

   The lord instinctively reached for his mace but quickly realised that he was too far away from the human woman, his subordinates of the four districts were closer but they didn't want to take any risk, especially since the weapon was aimed at Falmer's chest. It was clear that the woman had recently learnt the tongue as her pronunciation, although confident, was influenced greatly by an unknown language that was more likely sung because of its melodious tones.

   "Who are you? Are you one of those people of the Order?" The lord asked, slowly walking towards the armed person.

   The intruder glanced at her weapon as Falmer was approaching, she turned her whole body towards him, with the crossbow held from her hips.

   "Name's Amy Moore, field agent of the Order. I won't interfere too much here, but I'm just proposing a solution to your problem. After all, we can all benefit from the situation." She replied with a grin.

   The director of the workshop district decided to intervene and ask the question in the mind of everyone in the room, standing between the threatening woman and his lord.

   "What will you gain by helping us? Weren't you also looking for a trade route with the maritime city of Pre? Selling wars?"

   Amy looked falsely shocked, as she gasped dramatically.

   "We are? Not anymore, how can we be commercial partners after knowing that they killed a merchant delegation? They didn't prove themselves as trustworthy." Amy said before looking at the severed head, gripping tightly her weapon. "Neither do you, apparently."

   Falmer agreed with her statement and gave a stern look at his subordinates who were probably offended by his reaction though the veil hid their feelings.

   "I can't blame them, we already have the help of the merchant company Argo who proved to be trustworthy to the council of the elders. Your kingdom is already in a feud with our helpers, isn't it?" Falmer replied, idly looking at the map despite being threatened by an intruder.

   The woman seemed to think for a moment, she frowned her eyebrows, making her look older with wrinkles and tired eyes. The director of the breeding district used the distraction to discreetly arm a hidden pocket crossbow in her sleeve, ready to fire but Falmer's stare stopped her from firing. She quickly imagined that her hidden weapon wouldn't pierce the armour and by the time she'd raise her arm, the redhead wouldn't have shot her lord, so her action would have been useless.

   "Sorry, can you repeat it? I'm not sure I understood everything." Amy ashamedly admitted, looking back at Arthur who was supposed to be her translator.

   Former counsellor Arthur had been working all around in Ahas island for a couple of decades, becoming the perfect translator who could even speak minor dialects that only a handful of locals used.

   "We already work with Argo, the Order is its rival." Falmer slowly explained as if he was talking to a child even though he could probably be as old as Amy's father.

   Amy's eyes lightened up as if she had learnt the meaning of life and she began laughing uncontrollably, like a madman while bearing her white perfect teeth. The others, unsure of how to react, forced a laugh as well while sharing looks with each other. The woman's chest was beginning to hurt as she was finally able to control herself, she wheezed and sighed with a smile. She snorted and lowered her crossbow, which relieved the Ahas but the danger was still present for them to not draw any weapon.

   "I should have seen it coming. Say, Falmer, care to show me around?" Amy asked with a dubious smile. "I'd love to know more about your city."

   The lord turned to his subordinates with a sigh, they seemed confused but still wary of the ginger girl that seemed a bit unstable.

   "Breeder and Trainer, make sure that she leaves without any problem. We don't want any invading armies in our lands, yet." Falmer declared, to the discontent of the directors.

   "Fine, you're not into redheads I take it. I'll be taking the head back with me, since they'll need proof of his death. I might hang around your city for a while, I'll have to meet with your Argo helper." Amy said as she took the head by the hair.

   The woman chuckled as she was escorted out of the throne room by the directors of the breeding district and the one of the military. Not wasting any time, the other two Ahas subordinates began organising the future invasion of the mainland with a confident Falmer. On the other hand, Breeder glanced at Trainer when they closed the door, silently agreeing on disposing of the hostile agent who stopped on her track, her back towards them.

   "Falmer knows that this war will benefit all of us. We can provide you with a fighting chance on the mainland with our superior boats." Amy explained as she looked away from the Ahas. "Maybe I can convince you in another way?"

   The head of the military district took her offer while Breeder reluctantly followed them to a nearby room to make sure that the agent of the Order wasn't going to cause more trouble. She had to witness her colleague undressing, exposing a well sculpted body covered in scars that Breeder remembered for she had witnessed those in the making during the female Ahas' wedding where a dispute happened between humans and Ahas. The handsome man, at least for Ahas standards, was eager to have a rough intercourse with the petite Amy who seemed really into it, purring when he called her degrading names.

   "You like that, swine?" Trainer grunted as he was choking Amy, whose nipples were as hard as diamonds.

   The male Ahas was violently thrusting his girthy cock inside an already badly abused cunt as the woman was gargling with her legs convulsing as the oxygen was lacking, sending her over the edge. Amy was lying on her back and pinching her pointy tits as she was getting choked almost to death. Trainer eventually let go of her throat without stopping pounding her, he slapped one of her hands from a nip and proceeded to bite it. Having barely got time to gasp for air, Amy let out a weak scream of mixed pain and pleasure. She groped his back, nails digging in his skin as he managed to send her over the edge with his rough treatments.

   "Is that all you've got, asshole?" She exclaimed in english. 

   The Ahas didn't understand what she said but took it as a challenge and easily flipped her on her stomach while still having his dick inside her. Amy cooed at his roughness and was already getting on her knees but she was forcefully kept down by the weight of Trainer. He laid on her with his body while punishing her wet cunt with his meaty cock, each thrust risking to break the bed underneath which squeaked and creaked dangerously. The position wasn't comfortable enough for the Ahas and he proceeded in getting her on all four by pulling her hair with one hand as he got up.

   "Not so dangerous now, cock sheath. Scream for me!" Trainer ordered while spanking her ass, leaving red marks on her cheeks.

   Amy moaned and the louder she screamed, the harder the slaps were. Breeder was visibly uncomfortable watching the scene, holding her sceptre tightly against her chest. The small redhead learned that the battle hardened man had quite the heavy hand and the spankings were sending waves of pleasure through her body. Even with the pain, she bucked her ass against his mighty cock, getting to feel the whole length inside her drenched pussy that was eager for more punishments. Amy was slightly disappointed when Trainer let go of her hair but getting her small boobs getting roughly treated, being forcefully milked, though she wasn't lactating, made her coo.

   "More! More! Treat me like a cow!" The girl begged, feeling herself getting over the edge once more.

   With the last bit of consciousness, Amy noticed Breeder sitting on the other side of the room, observing them. Trainer bit her neck as he was about to come, the sudden pain immediately made the redhead cum while letting out a deafening scream from her powerful orgasm. Her legs shook for a moment before going limp and she collapsed heavily on the bed. The last words she heard before losing consciousness were:

   "Relax, I didn't poison her." Trainer calmly explained to a hissing Breeder who was bearing her own dripping fangs.

   Amy eventually woke up in a small room, both hands cuffed to the railings of the bed and wearing only a loincloth.

   "Well, that's a setback." She sighed before dislocating her thumb to get off her restraints.

[Cath]

Chapter 20: Devil's deal

  In the morning, as everyone was eating breakfast, Daniel told his friends about last night's encounter. His best friend was wearing the bare minimum, just his boxers and a white T-shirt. Meanwhile, the fit woman was in a creamy towel that she used to wrap herself after her quick shower. Jacob had an eyebrow raised the whole time, thinking that his best friend may have had some really weird nightmares. On the other hand, Abby looked more concerned and her frowning face made her look like she was doubting him, with her half moon glasses making her look more attractive to Dan's eyes. When he was done explaining, the kitchen was silent.

  "What do you think? Am I imagining things?" Daniel asked, feeling the gazes penetrating him and judging him.

  Jacob sipped his cup of coffee and was about to say something but Abby was faster. The man didn't mind the girl talking in his stead.

  "I had a similar dream last night, a green woman came to me and proposed that I'd work for her in exchange for my wildest desire. Obviously, I refused." Abby bragged, shrugging as if it was no big deal though something betrayed her confidence.

  Yet another awkward silence happened, this time interrupted by the toaster which finished grilling the bread.

  "Well, looks like you're dreaming of weird shit. Should I book a therapist for you both?" Jack jokingly declared, glancing at his cousin.

  The other two ironically laughed while giving him a bad look, Daniel took the toast for himself and proposed the other slice to Abby who politely declined with a small wave of the hand.

  "Look, I know we've been through some weird stuff recently, but to the point of inventing some kind of astral entity…" Jacob continued after getting his toast then began buttering it.

  Abby had gotten up and was near the coffee machine, she shrugged again while filling her cup with coffee after proposing it to the other two. The boys shook their head as a no, their answer didn't bother her either.

  "Dude, if I was allowed to, I'd show you all the weird shit that I know." Abby declared over the buzzing sounds of the machine pouring coffee.

  "I don't want to see your collection of freaky porn." Jacob replied with a giggle.

  Daniel, who was already daydreaming, wondered what would be freaky for Abby but he put a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from throwing his toast in the face of the buff man in underwear. Instead of teasing the girl, he decided to side with her while also retrieving his own food.

  "Bro, if Abby saw it too, there's a chance that it was real. Maybe there's something you can tell us about the green woman?" Dan said before asking Abby.

  The woman annoyedly sighed and went to her room to fetch her PC, she displayed an image from a folder titled PUBLIC, right under another one named NOt PrON. The black and white picture was of some kind of woman in a grey suit with her face blurred out as if something tried to erase the head. The person was sitting behind an empty desk with her hands and legs crossed, giving off an aura of supreme authority. Despite that, she looked pretty average with a tan that would rival Abby's exotic charm though the only bits of skin in display were her neck and hands. Jacob noticed that it wasn't an average office chair but an old looking one that she was sitting on and chuckled at the idea of giving such cheap chair to an employee. The whole decoration in the room gave off an air of freshly opened business from the early twentieth century.

  "This woman is calling herself Miss Brown or B for the close friends, her first name varies depending on the country, it's a known fact that she's the big boss of her company that branches out in many sector, from pharmaceutical productions to firearms distribution." Abby explained, showing pictures of the different business to the guys.

  The guys easily noticed that some pictures were from different times, the first ones where in black and white, then some were discoloured. The quality of the images seemed to improve after a while, showing recent companies that looked more modern with their minimalist design.

  "On a regular basis, files about her own existence disappear from the Internet wether it's a rival company's doing or her own that does it, we aren't sure. There are various reports on her physical appearance, some say that she looks young other say that she's old, from teenager to grandmother.

  Abby clicked on a subfolder where there were hand drawn pictures of the elusive woman, mostly stained by ink, bloods and smudges. Jacob felt like he recognised one of the young portraits from one of many hookups, but seeing the older faces made him give up on the idea of ever having had sex with such woman. As for Daniel, he was more fascinated by Abby's resources and the fact that the pictures made it look like those were drawn at different stages of the businesswoman's life, if only those didn’t put such an emphasis on her bright green eyes, which were hypnotising the more he stared at them.

  "But there is one recurrent thing, the colour green." Abby explained with a serious expression, meeting the bright blue eyes of Daniel by the way.

  Jacob whistled at the picture, approving of the dress code from the first image of the woman in her grey suit. His reaction intrigued his friends who turned to him, waiting for an explanation.

  "That's a lot of stitches on her dress, I can see that's some expensive fabrics. She's got good tastes at the very least." The man said, looking closely at the screen. "Too bad she has a shitty old chair."

  Abby groaned at the remark, Daniel felt a bit useless as he couldn't add anything that could help. His eyes wandered around the room, then he remembered that maybe the redhead Amy knew something about her own boss, feeling like he needed to do something, he dialled her number. It rang a few times before the person picked up with a few static sounds.

  "Can't believe there's actually a signal out here. Who dis?" Amy declared, being relieved while sounding worried at the same time.

  "Daniel Tonq, we… talked before?" He hesitated, looking at his friends.

  He remembered that he actually got her number because Jacob was deleting those of his flings but didn't want to be taken aback if one of them tried to call him for some reason, so Dan ended up with a notebook filled with all the phone numbers and the names of the girls Jack had slept with. He realised that he might pass as someone creepy for not getting her number by herself.

  "Thick D? How did you… never mind. Lemme guess. Want another threesome with your big friend? I'll have to disappoint you because I'm kind of abroad." The girl explained before grunting and making sounds as if she was doing some physical activities though the moans made him blush. "Wait, don't you have like a girlfriend from the Argo? Why are you calling me? Just so you know, I'm not a home wrecker, or anything."

  Abby, who had been quietly listening, took the phone from Daniel's hand before he could do anything. All of this under the amused look of Jacob who was still remembering Amy's body and trying to not get an erection, especially because in front of him was his cousin.

  "I'm not his girlfriend, bitch!" She angrily exclaimed, wishing that she could strangle the ginger.

  Daniel quickly took back his belonging while shooting Abby an annoyed look, who pulled out her tongue in return.

  "Right, well, why are you calling me then? I'm a bit busy." Amy replied, annoyed and still making weird noises with her mouth.

  "You work for the Order, right? What can you tell me about it?" Daniel managed to ask after getting rid of his fear of sounding creepy.

  "Feeling like working with the good guys, huh? What do you want to know that the Argo doesn't? Be quick though, we'll talk compensation later."

  Daniel looked at Abby who wasn't sure of what his intentions were, as she was too concerned with the fact that he was calling some of the rival company and it didn't help that she caught him with his dick deep in Amy's ass the other morning. Jacob, in the meantime, suppressed his memories of Amy as she did left an impression on him during their intercourses, but now his erection was under control.

  "What can you tell me about your boss Brown? I think some instance visited me last night."

  The man waited for the answer, he only heard groans and angry distant hissing noises for a moment before an out-of-breath Amy came back on the phone, panting heavily.

  "Back! Brown? Never met her personally. Only dealt with one of her doubles. Gal is pretty reserved. Slightly out of touch. And can be straightforward when need be. Don't know about the real deal. Anything else?" She hurriedly told, breathing loudly between each sentences.

  "What would happen if I, hypothetically, pissed her off?"

  Amy took a deep breath and managed to quickly calm her breathing, swallowing the saliva that was accumulating in her mouth.

  "Judging by you talking to me, you didn't do that. It's simple, you get very hurt and eventually die when she feels like it." She replied with a cackle. "If you want more info, how about working for the Order? I have to go now. If you or your buddy want to hook up, I'll be back in the US in a couple of days if I can get out of the quagmire I got myself into. Hell, even your not-girlfriend is invited."

  It was a bad time for Abby to sip her coffee as she immediately spat it out, to the dismay of Jacob who had to clean it. On the other hand, Daniel laughed and so was Amy.

  "Sounds like my prank worked. Right, I'm hanging up. Cya, Thick D." The redhead cheerfully said with a wink that nobody saw over the phone call.

  Jacob had quickly cleaned the mess and turned to his best friend with a serious look on his face, clearly annoyed by the situation.

  "I'm not going to have sex with her and why did you call Amy, of all people!?" Jacob and Abby protested at the same time, which weirded them out.

  "What?" The trio exclaimed, confused by their synchronisation.

  After the awkwardness gone, they finished their breakfast quietly while Abby turned on some jazz music on her computer to set up some relaxed mood. Jacob went to his father's office, his relation with his crush seemed to have warmed to a point where she would go out of her way and hang out with him at the coffee machine during breaks. The working Abby was slightly bothered to hand over her Dan who had to be prepared to visit the world of Avila, though she already did her part by sneakily vaccinating Daniel in his sleep, but her superiors wanted him to be strong enough to survive the different environment. To the young man’s dismay, his training started with the muscular agent Sword who had him run on a treadmill for hours without any breaks, thankfully another agent in-training was there so that they could encourage each other. Ivana, the trainer, was taking none of it.

  "Oi! Enough chitchat, worms! Less talking and more sweating!" Agent Sword barked, whipping them with her words.

  "Cut us some slack, Sword!" The trainee replied, out of breath.

  "Shut up, Fox. And you, Blue Boy, pump those legs! They won't be kind with you in the other world."

  Daniel earned the nickname of Blue Boy mainly because of Ivana who kept calling him that way, other agents soon imitated her after hearing her rant about a newbie who she had "accidentally" beaten up. Meanwhile, Fox was a pale young man who looked quite frail, he was fresh out of high school and had been recruited by some agents working there. The teenager was clearly not cut for physical exercises, but managed to survive the ordeal. From Dan managed to understand, the fragile boy was more of a linguist, being able to translate a hidden message, written in one the many languages of Avila, that an Argo recruiter put in the school's library.

  After what felt like an eternity, the pace of the treadmills slowed down to finally stop, to the reliefs of the trainees who struggled to stand on their two legs. Sword looked pleased, a chronometer in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.

  "You managed to surprise me, worms. I thought you'd give up after the first hour, but you managed to keep running for three and a half hour. How do y'all feel?"

  "I'm going to throw up my lungs… " Daniel managed to complain.

  "Well, drink some water, that'll do. Too bad I'm in possession of the only bottle here." Sword declared, her master plan revealed.

  Fox managed to groan in between heavy breath, he had it worse than Daniel as he was collapsed on all fours. Dan stumbled towards Ivana who lightly pushed him backward, he pitifully fell on his ass with a defeated look on his face.

  "Oi, is that all? How did Morena even got a liking on you?" The muscular woman disappointedly asked to herself.

  Daniel got up with difficulties, however his efforts didn't impress his trainer. After getting in a semblance of a fighting stance, his fists in front of him, Agent Sword raised an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Fox wheezed and collapsed with a loud thud, still breathing to the relief of his coach who decided to check on him just in case. Dan used the distraction to lunge forward with all the strength he had left, managing to get within reaching distance before getting slightly pushed back once more.

  "What did you think would happen?" Sword mocked, waving the prize he wanted.

  "This?" Daniel replied, holding the bottle in his hand.

  The woman's eyes widened before looking at her now empty hand before turning back her attention to Daniel who seemed to be about to collapse from exhaustion. Looking clearly surprised, Ivana's face went through a lot of emotions, from surprise to anger, passing by joy and sadness.

  "Looks like I'm getting rusty. Good job, Blue Boy. You earned it. Fox, you'll have to work more on your stamina, though." She declared before turning towards the locker room to get more water for the high schooler.

  Dan finally collapsed on the floor after managing to take a sip of the liquid of life.

---

ely necromancy. Very few had managed to raise the dead and those who could, used it to learn more about how the organs worked, like a vivisection but on a moving cadaver.
  "A couple of foreigners named Goghso and Fordo are here, my lord." A guard declared as he stepped into the room.
  "Let them in, and make sure nobody else comes to disturb the meeting." Olf replied with a small wave of the hand to dismiss the person.
  "As you wish, my lord."
  The two foreigners entered soon after that the guard left, one big man who looked more like a modest peasant than someone important, followed by a lightly armoured person who carried a sword on the hip. They saluted him, the mercenary looking individual removed the helmet to reveal a familiar feminine face.
  "Greetings, Lord Olf. We managed to finally set up a proper base and we have processed all the informations we managed to gather." Goghso, also known as Marcus Gogh, said before pulling out a parchment.
  "Proceed." Olf replied while absentmindedly look at the woman known as Karen Smith, distracted by the craftsmanship of her glasses.
  Marcus cleared his throat before speaking while Karen met the lord's gaze, beginning some staring contest with him.
  "We decoupled the informations we gathered with the ones you already knew and that are in your archives. An Ahan ship did dock in your harbour two weeks before the siege, its occupants disembarked during the night but were never seen again. Now, the following informations are only rumours but… most have in common that some fighting occurred, wether it was infighting, thugs, or an ambush, some damages were still visible."
  "Nothing new, here." Olf declared, bored but maintaining eye contact.
  The woman crossed her arms and grunted, her attitude did surprise the lord who wasn't used of such manners in front of him, or at least not from people below his regal status.
  "Well, yes. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but the previous counsellor of the Order here arrived around the same time, with clothes, gears and slaves. Ahas slaves. It's either a bad timing or some botched plan. We also heard that an Ahan delegation should arrive here to investigate, should we get involved with them too?" Karen interjected, trying to distract the lord from their intense staring contest.
  Olf seemed impressed by the fact that the two foreigners managed to learn that the delegation was expected, he raised his eyebrows before exhaling loudly from the nose.
  "I don't really trust those snakes to be of actual use, but if you could observe them, it would be quite beneficial. Anything that I don't already know? I'd like to remind you that I'm employing you to gather good informations, not hearsay."
  Marcus was quickly flipping through his notes to answer but Karen was faster, she made a sign to her colleague that she got everything under control, her eyes still locked with the city ruler's. Olf was slightly amused by their display, especially the defiance of the woman no older than him.
  "Of course. Well, we do have informations about the Ahas investigation team. They are humans, numbers unknown, but they're accustomed to these lands. Also we have got some leads, but the trail is cold since it happened so long ago, digging into those will require some resources. Thankfully, we encountered some people who worked for the Order too, from what we could get, there's some infighting among themselves." Karen declared, hellbent on winning their impromptu competition.
  They actually got this information thanks to their Argo contact who gave them leads on where to investigate.
  "Well, that's interesting. What else can you tell me about them?" Olf replied, more fixated on gazing upon the woman's eyes.
  "Most of them were human men, the small minority is composed of beast people, two dog-like and one rat-like. No defined type of clothing, no defined type of job, no defined status. The only reason we can be sure of their faction is their accent. Though the beast people were passing themselves for slaves." Karen reported, having learnt more of the Herik language to keep a long conversation. "The human men were... all referring to someone as, either Mother or Traitor. As for the very few who call the person Mother, they acted pretty fanatical."
  One of the interviewed people bit their tongue upon realising that they leaked informations to strangers, the man almost bled to death and was sent to a doctor.
  "Erem or Raitr? Their leader is supposed to be referred as Lester, nothing in common. The Order does sound in turmoil. Keep investigating." Olf declared before standing up, resigning to win the staring contest with the blonde woman who nodded at him as some kind of acknowledgment for his efforts.
  The lord walked to a chest sitting behind his throne and took out a silver necklace that he handed to Marcus who looked at him confused.
  "This is a token of my trust, present it to the royal scribe and he'll give you your citizenship. That way you'll be able to start your workshop. Keep doing a good job and I'll grant you a small bit of land." The man explained with a serious look on his face. "Don’t forget to give it back once it's done."
  "Thank you, Lord Olf. We'll do our best." The two foreigners replied before being dismissed by a hand gesture.
  As they left, Karen looked concerned, getting favours that easily from a medieval lord felt unreal, but not as satisfying as beating the powerful man in a contest of determination. From her knowledge, they would have to give a lot of money or fought in a war to be permitted a plot of land. On the other hand, Marcus was quite pleased, in less than a month, they were able to secure themselves a comfy position, though they still had some logistic troubles. After getting all the hassle done for their citizenship, they headed for their base of operation where Woso was checking for the Nth time the records of birth and family lineage. He was in the old headmaster's room that had been transformed into the archives room.
  "Ah, there you are, humans. I received news of the harbour group. Apparently one of our men got caught in a fight with some other slaves and was killed. He only has a brother who's in the tailor district. Thankfully, his parents have passed away during the raids, that should ease the logistics." The Ahan declared while still holding a parchment of birth records. "How was the meeting?"
  "That's tragic, we should be more careful, it's the fourth death in two weeks. We don't have unlimited resources." Karen grumbled at the Ahan who looked unfazed.
  Marcus nodded in approval of his colleague's opinion. Despite being more friendly towards the Ahas, to compensate with Karen's lack of sympathy, the big man was still invested with a mission.
  "That's why we should resume the reproduction operation, I let it slide before because we had to regroup and count heads, but now most of the paperwork is done." Woso protested while putting back the papers where they belonged.
  Karen glanced around and noticed that the whole room was cleaner than when they left, except for one minor detail, a lone boot badly hidden behind the desk. Meanwhile, Marcus was too distracted by thinking about their new citizenship that he didn’t notice anything.
  "Are you that horny?" Karen bluntly asked, surprising both men.
  "I don't understand the last word." Woso slowly replied, as if he was talking to a child, though the last bit sounded familiar for some reason.
  Marcus, who was more knowledgable on the Ahas tongue, decided to translate it, to Karen's annoyance of being out bested by him, as she ground her teeth while the man was translating and explaining in details the implications of the word. Woso laughed at the end before sitting at the edge of the desk, and with a grin of disdain, he said:
  "I'm not into human women, if that's what you want to know."
  Karen groaned while Marcus chuckled at the misunderstanding.
  "No! Never mind! And besides, having more people means more mouths to feed and more places to house them. I can barely tolerate when my nephews are visiting, so having toddlers is out of the question." Karen reacted, she was letting out her English accent making it more difficult to understand as she got more irritated.
  Her patience was running short as she was beginning to get homesick and wasn't too fond of such low living conditions, especially the lack of running water. Her colleague seemed to be better at handling the lack of basic sanitation, finding that washing himself with a bucket of water was good enough.
  "You humans may copulate less than us, but we still have that need. I'm fine, but I caught some of our youngest one going at it not long ago." Woso explained, glancing at the boot he failed to hide. "Going to the brothel is a no go, and if we openly allow them to have sex, it'll become a logistical nightmare."
  "Can't they just use contraceptives or something?" Karen proposed, while being visibly bothered by the conversation.
  "Well, there are other ways of satisfying one's sexual need without impregnation. Do you have a menstrual periods? What about using other orifices?" Marcus hesitantly asked.
  The last question clearly horrified Woso whose face went pale and eyes widened. His look of utmost disgust felt weird for the two humans who thought that very little could create such reaction to people living in the middle age, even less for a race centred about reproduction. Karen walled herself in silence.
  "What in Masague are you talking about?! Don't tell me you're one of those degenerates that fucks anything with a hole! You disgust me!" The Ahan exclaimed, trying to not throw up at the idea.
  "Well… I mean… you don't have to put it in the ass?" Marcus hesitated, struggling to hold a giggle from his unintentional pun. "What about… you know?"
  Woso's disgust grew even more.
  "No! Sex is with the genitals, nothing else! What do you think we are, animals?!"
  His reaction was obliviously not taken well by the other two who shared a look of concern, they were aware that the mentalities were different, some races were more extreme in their beliefs, but it was still shocking for them. Karen gasped and Marcus grunted in disproval.
  Woso and most infiltrated Ahas were yet to be educated about their own sexuality. Thankfully, some people who worked at the breeding district were there to guide them.
  "Let's forget about this and look for an alternative. So, about our meeting with the lord, we got more backing from him. We'll get a more legit business running, so we'll be able to transfer one of our teams there. If everything goes well, we might resume your breeding program." Karen reported after getting over the culture shock.
  "Some good news. I'll notify the rest of the teams, anything else?"
  "We'll have a meeting tonight, gather the team leaders instead. We'll decide on the next course of action of the following weeks and ask for your input. Until the reinforcements arrive, we'll have to rely on ourselves." The big man decided as he read in his colleague's mind.
  His action didn’t bother the woman who proceeded in giving more detail. As he could see that Karen was taking care of the organisation, Marcus knew that he wasn't needed anymore and decided to check on the other Ahas occupying the abandoned orphanage. The gentle man actually got along with some of them, mainly those who were more experienced in life, meaning any of those who were born before the siege of Premer and whose hatred for the other races were under control. For some reason, he got close to a male Ahan who used to be a battlefield doctor.
  "Greetings, human. Do you need more information about Ahas biology? Or do you have more to tell about human anatomy?" The Ahas said with a note book in his hands.

---

Chapter 22: menace
  It was time for a change, Daniel had some free time after his training session, and with his security clearance, he managed to get access to some useful information on his future mission. Having heard that he'd finally visit Abby's workplace that was supposed to be in a third world country, he decided to learn as much as possible from it so that he wouldn't be a deadweight for her. His first priority was to learn the local language, he said that to the archivist who gave him a perplexed look.
  "Blue boy, it's another world, you'll have to be more specific." The archivist explained with his palm on his face.
  The person was a broad man who could easily flip over a car, though his strength was hidden under a shirt that was a few size bigger than it should have been. Despite his imposing frame, he spoke with a small accent of unknown African origin.
  "Um… what's the Heri kingdom's language?"
  The black man seemed pleased with the slightly more precise question.
  "We noted three languages, with some variations depending on the regions. The central one is the Her. The one for the remote mountainous dialect is called the Koart. The coastal regions speak Meeri, it's pretty easy to learn and most merchants use this one when visiting Heri. Have you learnt Shashari yet? The Ahas we work with, are more centralised, so knowing this one is as important as the other."
  "So… the port of Pre would be using the Meeri, right?"
  Judging that the new guy wasn’t as stupid as the first impression gave off, the archivist pretended to shoot him with his finger-gun.
  "Exactly, Blue boy. Don't worry too much about the alphabet, we have translated every major language on Avila and the literacy there isn't great. As for the pronunciation, they have the phonetic alphabet with them. If you need help, there's an anthropologist who can teach you how to speak properly."
  "Oh, thanks. Anything else I should know?"
  "Well, when you'll be deployed, don't forget to bring condoms and imperishable foods such as salt and sugar. From experience, I'd recommend some tissues and a hand towel, it's pretty hard to get a good shower there."
  Daniel made a mental note and went on to find the different language books he needed. After some time, he got his hands on the ones he was looking for, he even found some kind of magic book though he couldn't read it as it was written in what he could guess was either Spanish or Portuguese. The young man tried his best to learn one of the languages but some of the words were hard to remember. Despite what the archivist said, Daniel thought that Meeri wasn't as easy as the worker said.
  "How the hell did they even manage to translate all of this?" He said to himself as he was rubbing his temples in frustration.
  As his concentration was fading away, he'd remembered some fictions where the protagonists could learn in an instant, that though made him envious. His daydreaming was put to an end when a tall woman standing in front of him, she looked rather intrigued by him, or more specifically his bright blue eyes. Like most women of the Argo that he met, she looked quite healthy though her haircut was quite interesting, being crimson red with thick braids going down to her shoulders.
  "You're Blue Boy?" She asked with a thick countryside accent.
  Daniel sighed at his nickname before raising his head, finding himself very close to her face. She was clearly looking him deep in the eyes, her pupils were dilated.
  "Ya look like a husky! Do you also bark?" She loudly laughed, holding her sides.
  Being slightly annoyed for being interrupted, Daniel decided to do something he never did and would probably regret immediately.
  "Want me to wag my tail?" He coldly replied as he tilted his head sideway.
  The unnamed girl didn't find the answer funny and grope him by the collar, lifting him slightly from his chair.
  "Watch your tongue, buddy. Or I'll cut it out and make you eat it." She threatened, still with a thick accent.
  Daniel could see her own crazy blue eyes radiating with hostility, then suddenly a glint of malicious intent showed up. For some reason, he had instinctively grope her collar as well, which might have impressed the crimson redhead but she showed her dominance by strengthening her grip.
  "Blue Boy, ya got something on your face." She declared as if it was of upmost importance.
  He hesitated for moment, trying to figure out if she was bluffing or not. After a short struggle of determination, he gave in to the curiosity.
  "What do I have?" He finally asked.
  "Ma face!" She yelled with a very pronounced accent from Alabama.
  She head butted him, making him recoil in pain while loosing his grip. Daniel responded by cussing which prompted a shush gesture from the violent crazy girl. He was thankful that she didn't break anything but wondered if every women in the Argo were always that violent.
  "First lesson, don't believe everyone. Second lesson, my name's Kota Leek and if you ever call me kossa, I'll break yer fingers."
  Kota cracked her knuckles to accompany her threat. But Daniel was more and more confused by the situation, he still felt some pain from the sudden attack.
  "What?" He asked while rubbing his face.
  "You aren't from Scandinavia, are you? Damn Swedes." She monologued.
  "What?"
  Visibly having a few loose screws in her head, Kota snapped at him with a growl.
  "Say what again, motherlover. I dare you, I double dare you." She threatened with her fingers imitating a pistol.
  He narrowed his eyes in defiance and uttered the forbidden word. Kota raised her fist and when he thought she was about to punch him, she took his hand to shake it.
  "You've got balls, Blue Boy! Farmer had his doubts about you, but now I can see that you have potential. Next time you see Sword, tell her that Kota recommends your enhanced training. You'll thank me later." She spoke with her accent diminished.
  "That's cool, I guess? So… " he hesitated.
  "Ya need something? That reminds me, you managed to pass Sword's first test and get well with Morena. What's so special about you? You look like my farmer cousin Billy, sadly he died when he tried to mount one of the cows." She said with her heavy accent coming back at irregular intervals.
  "And I thought Abby was weird…"
  Kota laughed for some reason before gently punching his shoulder. Daniel got a flashback of when Ivana was trying to kill him and he realised that most women in the Argo were crazy in a somewhat violent way. Still, he admitted that most of them were quite pretty and interesting looking, especially the redhead in front of him.
  "Right, you're her not-boyfriend! Almost forgot. Tell you what, that bitch is crazy. She broke her last boyfriend's dick while totally-not-having-sex-during-work." Kota giggled while putting the last part in quotation with her fingers. "Rumours say that she managed to get a sleeping agent in the royal army of some Eastern kingdom."
  "The Heri Kingdom? I'm going to be sent there in a couple of weeks. Ivana has chosen Abby to come with her, and since I'm her assistant, I'll be tagging along." Daniel explained, surprised by the crimson girl's behaviour.
  The crazy red girl looked more menacing with her eyes shooting an evil intent as she bore her teeth with a growl. Despite being distracted by her interesting hair colour, which he found sexy, the young man noticed that something was off with her denture, she had very sharp pointy teeth which were unnaturally white.
  "Ya crazy mother lover! I'm from the team of the Koshani kingdom! My guys will be on a diplomatic mission to the Vayran kingdom which means that we'll make a pit stop by one of those harbour! Valia-whatever. Yo, I need to speak with Sword and the brass! See ya around, Blue Boy!" Kota exclaimed before dashing out of the archive room, under the judging look of the archivist who was at his desk near the entrance.
  Daniel stared in disbelief as he was trying to process all the information, after a quick investigation, mainly asking to the archivist what the crazy woman said. He got such a long explanation that Dan only remembered that Kota's alias was Fang, she mainly worked in northern kingdoms where she got some magical makeover to better blend in with the population as a demi-human. There was also that she was the daughter of Farmer's ex wife.
  "Wait… what's Farmer's position in this company?"
  "We work in regions, there are about ten of them. He's responsible for the western coast. What you need to remember is that he's the one calling the shots where you're going."
  "That's good to know…"
  "Also, here's my number if you need more information, name's Tyler." The archivist said with a wink.
  Daniel graciously accepted the number with a smile, he clearly understood the intent.
  "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." He said, while creating a new contact on his phone. "I'm more into girls, but if you want to hang out, I won't mind."
  Tyler reciprocated the smile and returned to his own task. Dan didn't feel uneasy from the ambiguous situation, instead of being bothered by it, he went back to his studying which made him wonder if the two people he interviewed had similar troubles  with the languages and if he'd meet them again. He decided to set a goal to achieve by the end of the day and it was to become good with the new languages. Thankfully for him, he realised that some words of Meeri sounded vaguely French, he remembered that his french lessons back at school were somewhat fun. It gave him the idea to translate the Meeri language into French which actually worked, though he still had to learn Shashari. Daniel was glad that some words were the same in both tongues, mainly those about navigation terms.
  Hours passed quickly, Tyler interrupted Dan who was still his nose in a book with a sky blue cover. The archivist made it clear that it was getting late and that most of the rooms were about to get closed. Daniel thanked him before quickly exiting the building by the main entrance where Jacob was waiting in his luxury car, another Bentley.
  "Abby is busy, so I'll be your taxi. No need to thank me, bro." Jacob laughed when his friend entered the car. "Dude, why do you always look like shit when I come to pick you up?"
  "Ha. Ha. Very funny. I got beaten up by Amazons. What about you? You look like someone who didn't have sex for weeks." Dan replied with an obviously fake laugh.
  "Hey!" The other protested. "Tonight I ordered some Chinese food since I didn't know when you two would come back."
  The driver put on the ignition and left his parking spot.
  "Sounds good with me. Say, does the name Kota ring a bell to you?"
  Jacob raised an eyebrow to show that he was gauging him.
  "I may have slept with lots of girls, but I think I'd have remembered such weird name. Why do you ask? Met another cute red head and wondered if I'd hooked up with her?"
  Daniel was clearly taken aback by Jacob's accurate statement, recoiling in the back of his seat.
  "How did you know it was a redhead?"
  "Back in high school, you had crushes on a lot of redheads. And yet you decided to fuck my cousin who's nothing of a ginger."
  Dan gave him a wry look to show that he was a bit annoyed that his friend brought that up again. Still, he could understand why he was still holding that against him, after all, if he had a best friend fucking with a member of his family, it would make things very awkward.
  "Anyway… how was work?"
  "Well, there was this Spanish company that was interested in buying shares of my dad's company. Marronas, they called themselves. Sounds like a dessert or some shit." Jack ranted while still focussing on the traffic ahead.
  "That literally means brown. That's a shitty name for a company."
  "Yeah, well Rose seemed to be suspicious about them. Like, she noticed that they had concealed weapons on them, some even had the same tattoos on the back of their necks. By the way, did you know that Rose has got a diamond tattooed on her right arm?"
  "Wait… is your dad involved with some kind of cartel? That doesn't sound good." Dan asked, ignoring the trivia about the secretary.

---

Chapter 23: troubled waters
  The sea was getting rowdy as some storm was coming, bringing dark clouds from the south. The quaint harbour that was usually bustling with life had a lack of it since the morning, only the dock workers and slaves could be seen scurrying around. Anticipating the worst, the boats had their sails put away and their valuable cargo being tightly strapped. Any person who wasn't focused on their important task could have spotted the admiral throwing up above the trailing, thankfully for her, the crew was too busy.
  "I hate this period of the year." A seaman could be heard grumbling.
  "Less ranting and more working! We still have a lot of cargo to secure! You two, make sure the anchors are good!" A quartermaster barked.
  They were at the beginning of the winter season, the air was changing and the coastal towns and cities had it rough even if they were accustomed to it. Unlike Valiamer, Premer didn't build some sort of hangar to shelter most boats. The capital city Herikart may have the best technology of the kingdom, but Valiamer was the capital of the navy which went above and beyond to preserve it, such as building a shelter for their boats to protect from the storms accompanying the winter's arrival. The vessels would be stored in a hangar built on water so that they could be quickly deployed right after when the sea calmed down.
  "That's why I hate being outside of Valiamer's reach. Can't have shit in Premer." Hol Afarin grumbled as she stumbled to her cabin, narrowly avoiding a sailor carrying a crate.
  When she reached her private quarters, she found her daughter strapped to the bed, like most of the furniture and anything that could be moved. A guard had been staying in the room, making sure that Afardo wouldn't manage to escape and avoiding as much eye contact as possible. Hol came just in time before the strapped girl could undo a knot that was too close to her hand.
  "Ren, good job. The other will need your help with the foresail." The admiral said before slapping her daughter's hand.
  "Some of us are wondering who will this girl be married to?"
  Afarin looked at the guard with unknown intent, starring at him long enough that he looked away. She had no clue on who she was going to marry Afardo with.
  "Right, a soldier like myself shouldn't be knowing such important information." Ren said before taking his leave. "I’m sure your brilliant plan will succeed, admiral."
  The female admiral calmly watched him go, when she was sure that she and her daughter were alone, she collapsed on the bed as well as on Afardo's body. There were some protests from being crushed.
  "Get off of me!"
  The officer couldn't help but pitifully groan, looking young for a fraction of second.
  "I hope you treat your children better than this." Afardo protested.
  Afarin felt a bit sad, remembering her own kids who were far away, in a private school in Valiamer. Her husband, who was a captain of a garrison, was the one who actually raised them. Her only interactions with her family was through letters, like the ones on her desk.
  "I don't even raise them. Now stop struggling, a storm is coming. It's going to get rough."
  "A what?"
  "A storm. Lots of clouds and wind that make the sea very violent."
  "What?"
  "My gods! Do I have to explain you everything?! Were you born yesterday?!"
  "Many nights ago. Don't know when, it was in a dark and humid place that smelled weird." The daughter told, without emotion in her voice as if it had no significance.
  The mother hugged her adopted daughter while wearing a sad expression on her face. She was about to plant a kiss on her forehead but a violent shake made the woman fall on the strapped girl. The hull of the ship creaked while the ship rocked wildly for a short period of time before everything calmed down. Afarin stopped firmly holding Afardo and struggled to get as her legs were shaking. Her face was pale, her lips were trembling. She ran outside to throw up over the ledge. The senior captain Artin walked to her, holding a piece of paper to her.
  "Admiral, our scouts had detected a huge wave coming our way, looks like it outran the message."
  "Artin, can you give me a report on the situation in a bit? That wave threw me off guard."
  "Understandable. Some young officer even broke his nose as he fell on a box. Tell me when you're ready."
  Artin seemed unfazed, he was on the deck and saw the disaster coming. He had shouted to the others to brace themselves for the impact. The only thing thing breaking his impeccable image was a starfish that had landed on his left shoulder.
  "Alright, I'm good. Artin, the letter."
  "Yes, first wave should hit in an hour. Dark clouds should arrive in half a day. The rest of the scout team will remain on standby while the messenger will deliver this message. The messenger shall return to its squadron at once."
  "Which scout team is it? I thought we sent three of them."
  "Yes, Vaso, Censo and Reso, if I recall correctly. That's Vaso's."
  "The one sent to the East? Shouldn't Reso's team be the one to deliver the report? It should have come from the south."
  Right as the admiral finished her sentence, two more messengers arrived in a hurry, they came from the other scout teams, delivering the same message.
  "Flotilla belonging to the Order in sight. About 40 ships, all armed with ballista-like weaponry. They haven't responded to our signals. Possibly hostile." the two messengers declared, without opening their letters.
  "Have you engaged? If not, disengage. The storm will take care of them." Artin immediately replied while sending them off with a wave of the hand.
  "Don't you dare lose any men from these foreigners. You aren't allowed to die without my order!" Afarin added as the two men were already running to their respective vessel.
  The admiral and the senior captain exchanged a look, seemingly both on the same page, knowing exactly what was going to happen. They looked at horizon expectantly.
  "The Order has showed its true colours, Valiamer should be safe, but it'll add more… problems to the negotiations with the Ahas." Afarin thought out loud.
  "Your wish to rekindle the relations with the Ahas is benevolent, admiral, but isn't it too much work?"
  "We may have naval superiority, but if they put their mind into it, they could overwhelm us on land battles. We can't erase that threat, they'll outnumber us and outlive us. Haven't you encountered any Ahas before?"
  "Ahas don't like water. The only one I met before the siege was your mother, how is she doing lately?"
  "She got promoted to director of a district in an important city of Ahas lands. Funny how I'm the only child of their union. Now isn't the time for chitchat, we've got preparations to do. You should already be on your way to Lord Olf to talk about the hostilities from the Order."
  "Shouldn't the admiral of the royal fleet handle such important matter? A mere messenger wouldn't suffice."
  Admiral Afarin gave him a sheepish look before sighing.
  "Guess I'll have to deal with that shitty dick. I mean Merdosa Picha. Keep an eye on my adopted daughter. She needs to be married to an Ahan."
  Captain Artin made an approving grunt and escorted the woman back to the harbour. She had four marines in tow to act as bodyguards, to distinguish themselves from any other soldier, they wore a full plate helmet painted in red and purple, the colours of the sails of the admiral ship. As she walked towards the throne room, people could see her weird way of walking, as if she was drunk but it was the effect of being on a boat for a long time.
  "Admiral Afarin Hol demands an emergency meeting with the lord of Premer! Don't make me wait or you'll be acting against the safety of Herik." Afarin declared before entering the throne room.
  Two of her guards each opened the doors of the room to let in their officer while the other two marines were holding back a very confused Merdosa Picha, who attempted to draw his sword. Lord Olf was in the middle of a meeting with some kind of mercenary and a peasant, these two jumped of surprise as they were standing near a map on the table next to the throne. The armoured one reached for their sword but Olf waved his hand for the person to stand down.
  "This is already an important meeting, and unhand my general!" Olf ordered with annoyance in his voice.
  Hol nodded at her marines to release Picha who was understandably pissed at his treatment. The soldiers regrouped around their swaying admiral. The Premer officer shot a death glare at the Valiamer one who was slightly taken aback but kept her composure in front of her men.
  "Is that how mixed blood treat others? Explain yourself." Picha spat.
  Hol's hair dressed on the back her neck as she was torn between fear and anger, her fists were visibly shaking. Thankfully for her, one of the marines grunted, which reminded her of why she was there. In the back of her mind, she secretly thanked her men for always being helpful to her.
  "Our scouts have encountered a flotilla from the Order, they didn't respond to our signals and are deemed hostile. Another report says that the storm will arrive in less than a day. In case the flotilla is a forward expedition, we would suggest preparing some additional defences. Their armaments are different than our usual encounters." She listed while still trying to contain her mixed feelings.
  Olf raised an eyebrow to fake his surprise, his general understood his thought and chuckled. He hasn't shared any information to the royal fleet about the Order's ambush a few days ago as it didn't concerned them directly nor did he trust the admiral to do anything about it. Then the lord stopped his acting as he remembered something.
  "I wouldn't be surprised if they're heading towards our maritime cities. Valiamer should be safe, but I doubt Himer will be. The royal envoy should arrive there soon!" Lord Olf realised. "Let's hope the storm will take care of them."
  Thanks to the insistent look of her marines, Afarin kept her cool and gathered her thoughts. She stayed focused on the lord of the maritime city, completely ignoring everyone else. She closed her eyes to think of what she had to say next, she didn't have her officers to back her up or think of a plan.
  "That's the problem. We too are likely to get damaged by it unless we move north to avoid the brunt of it. That means leaving Premer without naval support. The fact that Minmer is also vulnerable doesn't help. We need a fast messenger to deliver new orders to the other part of the royal fleet stationed in Valiamer. Since the King himself is busy and probably unaware of the situation, it falls upon me to command the Herikfer."
  Picha observed the scene for a moment before turning to the admiral who didn't even glanced at him, which made him a bit frustrated.
  "Where's Faldo? Is she still held in your ship?" Picha asked, vainly looking behind the admiral.
  "None of your concern." She coldly replied without even looking at him. "Her name is Afardo Hol now and soon enough, she'll get a new name. With a bit of luck, she'll be far away from from your filthy hand, whatever-your-title-is." Afarin declared while feigning disdain and keeping eye contact with Olf.
  The lord could feel the tension between the two, he was getting annoyed by their petty argument and constant nagging, though he understood his trusted general's attitude towards the mixed blood woman who rose in the ranks in such a short time. He cared not for his former servant, while they were distracting each other, he summoned a scribe to his throne room while still having his two informants with him. Afarin's bodyguards reacted when the doors opened but quickly relaxed when they saw the newcomer. The person was scrawny looking and dressed in a typical crimson red robe adorned with the insignia of Premer and other royal symbols. He carried under his arm the tools and paper necessary for the message. In tow was a man wearing purple clothing was quietly stretching his legs, his height was close to Markus who was being quiet all this time, his peasant-like outfit made him easily ignored by the rest.
  "Ready to serve, my lord!" The scribe declared, setting up his writing material on the table nearby.
  Olf nodded towards Afarin who was shaking internally while Picha was fuming. The only calm people were the marines and the other two random people who still weren't introduced to Afarin and her men.
  "Admiral, your message." The lord coldly commanded to get the attention of the woman. "I'll expect you to pay the fee."
  Hol Afarin cleared her throat, the sound echoing in the silent throne room as she had rehearsed the message in her head on her way to the throne room.
  "Herikfer stationed in Valiamer is to be sent to protect the maritime cities, Minmer is to be prioritised over the other cities further southwest. Expect open hostilities from the Order kingdom. Reinforce defences is strongly advised. You are to protect them with your life. Regroup with the main fleet when given the Order by either the King or myself." The admiral quickly said, walking over the scribe. "Make three copies."
  The person wrote quickly and efficiently, it agreeably surprised Karen who could write as fast as him but only on a keyboard, she nodded approvingly with respect. Once done, the scribe was about to use the Premer seal when Afarin handed her own that she always carried in her pocket.
  "Herikfer requires this to be trustworthy. I'll keep one of the three copies. You know the procedures for such order?"
  "One for the sender, one for the capital and the rest for the fleet. Here, three. Don't take me for a fool, admiral." The person scolded while applying the seal on the fresh wax on the letters. "I expect payment." The scribe said while extending his flimsy hand that was reluctantly filled with a bag of gold.
  The messages were given to the man dressed in purple who had finished stretching, he delivered one to Afarin and then sprinted towards the exit. Having no more reason to stay in the room, the admiral stormed off as well, her marines right behind her hurried steps. She had held a sneezed that came out as a snobbish sigh. Once she was gone, Karen turned to Olf.
  "She's a bit of twat, isn't she?"
  "Nothing surprising, coming from a half Ahas. So, back on topic. You were saying that you found an underground hideout full of beast people, right?" Picha said while going back over a map of Premer.
  "Their affiliations are unknown, but they could interfere with the actually crisis." Markus politely replied while pointing the location on the map.

[Cath]

Chapter 24: bonding

  Once again, Daniel was facing agent Sword, this time, she was teaching self defence.  The other trainee, Agent Fox, was already knocked out and laying on the floor like a rag doll. Ivana Smirnov seemed to be in a good mood, her usual frowning face was replaced with a faint smile, which seemed to be pretty rare considering the reaction of her other colleagues. With controlled footwork, she was swiftly moving around Daniel who had his hands raised to block her attacks and keeping his distance as much as he could.
  "Keep your hands raised! I want to see how long you can endure the pressure!" Sword shouted before making a way too wide right swing that Dan barely managed to block. "If you can't properly, how are you supposed to survive during the mission? Come on, pay attention!" She scolded, making an ample movement that hinted for an uppercut that connected with his jaw.
  Dan flew back a good metre before hitting the ground with a heavy thud. Ivana sighed as she walked towards him, instead of seeing if he was ok, she threw him a towel. He sat up, wiping his sweat with the towel.
  "Use your arms to either deflect or block my attacks, they aren't there to look pretty. Fang said that you met her and that I should train you harder. You're way too easy to read." Ivana declared before turning to Fox who was struggling to get on his feet. "You too, Fox. You might get a cosy position in the rear, but you must be prepared for anything. I won't get any agent killed under my watch."
  Fox replied with groans and coughs. Ivana grabbed him by the collar and easily lifted him up like a puppy. The teenager blurred something as thanks before getting his face covered by a towel that the woman threw at him.
  "Go hit the shower and don't forget to stretch. I'll take care of Blue Boy."
  The pale young man dragged himself to the locker room under the watchful eye of agent Sword. When she was certain that she was alone with Daniel who somehow managed to sneak up behind her, she instinctively reacted and stopped her fist from connecting with his face.
  "Damn. How did you do that?" She asked with genuine surprise in her voice.
  "I was still panting, though. So, do you want something from me?"
  Ivana shot him a content look that piqued Daniel's interest. With a motion of the hand, she invited him to follow her to the bench where they sat next to each other. Dan took a bottle laying there and proceeded in downing the water in one fell swoop. Ivana had already done the same and was watching him, her eyes were betraying her intentions as she grew some curiosity about him.
  "Looks like Abby saw something special in you. I have too but I don't think it's the same thing. Tell me, what attracted you to her?" She asked after he had finished drinking.
  Dan stared at her, trying to see if she had other intentions in mind. All he managed was unconsciously laying his eyes on her massive chest, luckily for him, she didn't notice his gaze.
  "You wouldn't get mad if I told you? Knowing how you… treated me the first time we met." He asked, getting ready to get hit or at least getting a negative reaction.
  Ivana looked at him while thinking on how she should react, she absentmindedly tapped at her bottle of water while Daniel was waiting expectantly for something to happen. She remembered her therapy sessions about overcoming her past trauma and made what could be categorised as a smile towards a man for the first time.
  "I overestimated you the first time, but you aren't a spy from the Order. You might still be a bad person but you can easily be managed."
  Her answer confused Dan as to how to react, he was torn between being reassured and offended, though a quick glance at her impressive muscular physique made him choose the latter.
  "You may already know that, but Abby and I are… having a casual sexual relationship." He began but quickly followed with his explanation before upsetting Ivana. "I mean, she was the one initiating it. I don't know if it's love or just sexual attraction, but I'm fond of her. She might be weird at times but she's fun to be with."
  Agent Sword answered with a genuine chuckle, thinking of young Abby's misadventures. The thoughts made her relax and Daniel did as well.
  "A lovable goofball, right? I remember that when she was a teen, she was in love with a knight. You'd understand my surprise when I learnt that as we were actually going to raid a camp of cavaliers the day after. Turns out, it was one of her classmates, you."
  Dan chuckled with embarrassment, rubbing the back of the head. Ivana seemed to slightly warm up to him but didn't let him see it.
  "She's a bit wild at times, that's for sure. That reminds me of the day she fought the anatomy model and begged me for help when she got found out."
  "Oh yeah! That's the week after we put down a rookie necromancer. Turns out, the Order loves necromancy. Nine out of ten times, it's agent of the Order. The art of raising the dead is pretty complex, mainly because you need to know a lot about anatomy and necrosis, not mentioning you actually have to use your own energy for all of these actions." She explained while making hand gestures as to pace her speech.
  "Sounds complicated. Do you use magic too?"
  Ivana took her phone that was laying on the bench and used a painting app, she began drawing with her finger.
  "Here? No. In Avila? I'm using divine magic, it's the second most used system. You have standard mages that use elemental telekinesis. Divine mages are clerics who gain power from some unknown entity, supposedly the excess of concentration of magic essence. Most of our information about magic are taken from the Order's intercepted messages. Now I'm curious about what type of magic you'll use."
  "Too much information to take in. Also how do you know what kind of magic you can use?"
  "The standard magic system is accessible to any intellectual beings who have a will of their own, even dogs and birds could use it. Some do but it's very rare. As for divine magic, it's more about your connection to an entity, no need for prayers or anything, but people think it helps. There's many more systems but those are rarely used because it asks time and resources. The third most used magic is ritual magic, it requires gathering ingredients and magic essence. It's one of the strongest but also most resource consuming."
  Ivana realised that it was actually the first time, since her traumatic incident, that she calmly talked with a man in a one on one conversation. Even if it was more explaining than talking, it felt weird to behave almost casually with someone of the opposite sex. She hoped that he wouldn't betray her, that thought alone made her clam up. Daniel noticed the visible change of attitude, from Ivana being relaxed to having her muscles visibly tensed up.
  "I don't suppose we're going to talk as casually as that a moment before. Should I say something?" Daniel asked as if he was threading on a minefield.
  Ivana grunted before picking up another bottle of water.
  "I won't pretend that I know what you've been through, nor would I ask unless you want me to. I won't pretend that I'm perfect either." Daniel stated, trying to calm Ivana down. "If we can at least trust enough to not fear for backstabbing, it'd be a win. Don't you think?"
  Ivana narrowed her eyes as if to see if Daniel was deceiving her, he seemed quite honest, nothing could hint at any ill intent. He noticed that her muscles relaxed a bit.
  "Well, we aren't going to have any intimate relationship anytime soon. I'm already comfortable with Abby's shenanigans and that's far enough for me to handle." He added with an uncomfortable chuckle.
  Ivana launched her fist to Daniel's face, he only had time to brace for impact, which never came. He opened his eyes and was greeted with a flick on his nose, it hurt a bit.
  "Aren't you a rude one, Blue Boy?" She sneered. "Well, it's nice that you still have the galls to say such things to my face. I guess Fang was right, you really are bold at times."
  Dan rubbed his nose as he looked at Sword who was back to being casual with him, though the atmosphere was still a bit tense. They were still sweaty and recovering from their workout. An awkward silence slowly stepped in as they didn't really know what to do.
  "So… I'll go hit the shower." Daniel declared with a bit of hesitation. "I'm sure Fox is probably done by now."
  Dan slowly stood up as his aching muscles were staring to take a toll, the week-old bruises having barely healed.
  "Ah right, I need to warn you. Next week, when we'll be in Avila, you might want to get a good hygiene. Enjoy these commodities while you can, also make sure to get yourself a bar of soap in your kit."
  The young man made a mental note about what Ivana said.
  "Right, condoms, towels and a bar of soap. Got it."
  Ivana was about to say something but decided otherwise and smiled.
  "They also have condoms in Avila, not as good as ours. Maybe you should ask around for more things to add in your inventory. Don't worry about your gear, you'll get yourself a short sword, a dagger and some leather protections. Just make sure to not lose any of the stuff your bring with you, we don't want the natives to stumble on alien objects, right?" Agent Sword explained, cracking her knuckles to make her point come across.
  "You're talking like I'm going to do a side-quest from an RPG. Do I also have to kill five goblins to level up?" He chuckled while getting a somewhat amused look from the woman.
  "You can take it that way, but remember that this is real life. There's no checkpoint, nor save slot or cheat code. All I'm doing is giving you tools to be prepared, because if earth is normal difficulty, Avila is hardcore if you aren't careful." Ivana continued to explain.
  The muscular woman felt some unknown sensation from being able to casually talk to a man, it felt new and good. Ivana felt some kind of pride in her achievement, almost wanting to hug the person who helped her overcome her prejudice. The young man, on the other hand, had the impression that the buff woman was ready to jump on him.
  "Anyway, I'll be on my way." He hurriedly said before scramming towards the shower.
  Ivana took her phone and called her therapist with a smile.

---

Chapter 25: Enduring as a family
  The storm was slowly creeping near Premer, the winds were shaking tree branches as well as anything that wasn't very sturdy. Everyone was hiding inside their house or in public buildings such as the covered market or the different churches dedicated to various entities. Most of the ships had disembarked their crew, some officers and a handful of sailors were still stationed on the vessels to make sure that everything was under control. The admiral Afarin would have stayed on land if it wasn't for her adopted daughter, Afardo, who she wanted to keep away from Premer as much as possible while still keeping an eye on her in the admiral's cabin. The senior captain Artin was watching the storm approach as he stood tall on the deck, when a young sailor came to him.
  "Sir, the last preparations are done. Clear to move on land?"
  Artin silently looked at him for a moment before setting his attention to the horizon and the dark clouds.
  "Manar, unless you want to die young, I'd recommend that you stay here. The waves are getting rowdy and the mother of the seas would probably welcome you."
  "That's… what should we do, then?"
  The senior captain didn't answer, he instead looked at the horizon while tightly gripping the railing of the ship. Soon enough, a violent wind made the young sailor trip backward and the shock made the laufer rock from side to side with worrying creaking noises.
  "Those fucking Ahas! Why did they have to create such fuss around the season change?! I hate that mossroni period!" An angry admiral could be heard from her cabin.
  Artin calmly walked to hear quarters, passing by some toppled barrels of preserved food in the hallway, he took the time to put them back in place and made sure that these were tightly strapped. The senior captain knocked on the door and the voice of an annoyed Afarin came through.
  "Come in!"
  "Captain Artin, coming in." He announced as he opened the door.
  He came across a not-so-unusual scene that often happened during mossroni periods. Sitting on the floor, Afarin was holding her flat nose that bleed on mouth and chin, Artin gave her a piece of cloth that the woman used to wipe the blood off her face.
  "Thanks. I guess it's starting now?" Afarin asked with a defeated look on her face.
  Artin looked at a strapped-to-the-bed Afardo who seemed to be sleeping soundly while lying on her right side, a basin next to her head. The admiral let out a sigh as she clearly noticed her officer's gaze.
  "Yeah… I used some medicines so she wouldn't have to experience this shitty change of season."
  "That's very considerate of you. Don't get too attached, remember your goal with her." Artin declared, extending a helping hand to his superior officer.
  Afarin accepted his help, but a strong gust of wind made to boat rock from side to side and made the woman fall in Artin's strong arms as he didn't flinch from the shock. The embarrassed Afarin found herself feeling safe in his arms before realising her weird thoughts, though it wasn't her first mossroni.
  "Thanks, again." She said while getting back on her feet once more. "I'll never get used to this."
  "Took me forty years, so don't worry too much, admiral. You've been in the navy for almost twenty years now. On a boat, you can walk and run better than most marines on land, admiral. Still, do you need me to keep you company during this storm?"
  Afarin glanced at the sleeping Afardo then sighed before sitting on the bed, caressing her adopted daughter's cheek with a caring look.
  "I'm good. Thanks for your help. I don't know what I'd do without you, Artin. That reminds me that in a few days it'll be ten years that I've become the admiral of the royal fleet. It's longer than your previous admirals, right?"
  Artin nodded as he remembered the face of every admiral he worked under.
  "Indeed. Admiral Farlar was one of the best, surviving for nine whole years. Such a shame that he got killed by a stray arrow on that fateful night. You should be careful, admiral." The man said, though it sounded somewhat menacing.
  Afarin acquiesced silently as the boat was rocked once again by the storm. The sea became more and more agitated, making the laufer creak menacingly. The admiral looked at her senior captain with a tired expression before collapsing on the bed, her head falling on her adopted daughter's chest. Artin was surprised by the loss of consciousness from the woman and shook her shoulder but didn’t get any reaction. A quick look around the cabin showed that she also took some medicine to fall asleep. The captain frowned at her before grabbing her unconscious body in his arms, witnessing for the first time such defenceless female admiral.
  After some very long hours that felt like an eternity, where both the fleet and the harbour were harassed by violent winds and waves, the sunlight finally pierced the dark grey clouds, shedding light to a lightly damaged port. Some roof tiles got displaced, dozens of badly built windows got broken and lots of seaweed covered the harbour. A handful of people carefully looked outside while still being prepared to quickly go back to safety. On the horizon appeared a couple of vessels harbouring the colours of the royal fleet, those were the scout teams, three groups of them.
  "How did they get through that storm unhinged?" The sailor Manar wondered as the friendly forces were approaching.
  A grumpy looking admiral came to the deck, she looked like she tried to sleep during a storm though she was wearing her tidy uniform, with her small cape and bright colours, looking fresh if not for her face. She had her senior captain in tow, looking like his usual self, as if they didn’t go through this harsh weather. His impressive height and wide shoulders that were twice the size of an average man made him quite the contrast to his superior officer who was his complete opposite, both in physique as well as in their aura. The man gave a feeling of being an indestructible golem while the woman looked like a dandelion, able to thrive in unfavourable conditions.  
  "They don’t look like they encountered any problem. Maybe I should have gone with them." Afarin said with a croaky voice, her comment was taken as a joke and the sailor laughed at it.
  "My thoughts exactly, admiral!" The young man declared, earning a stern look from the senior captain.
  With a spyglass, Afarin confirmed that those ships were actually crewed by her own men, as Artin suggested that those might have been captured by the Order. The man signalled to the incoming ships for a meeting after nodding to his admiral. Despite being recently woken up, Afarin quickly regained her composure and acted like a proper admiral of the royal fleet, her back straight and an impassible face.
  "Glad to see you intact, Vaso, Censo and Reso. Give me your reports." She immediately said as soon as the captains of the different scout teams set foot on her vessel.
  "West team reporting. We stayed out of range of the Order fleet, no casualties." Captain Reso declared.
  Reso was a man in his thirties who often volunteered for scouting missions, like other captains, he proudly wore a red tunic underneath a blue jacket, he wore a pair of green pants, though his were darker because of a lack of bright green colours at the time of his enrolment in the navy. Like most senior officers, he sported a beard, which was trimmed, since displaying their facial hair was thought to show veteran nature of the man.
  "East team reporting! Nothing more than was what written in the earlier message. We avoided the storm by going north and following the storm behind." Captain Vaso explained.
  Vaso was a young officer, freshly out of the royal academy of Hericart, the capital of the kingdom of Heri. He was barely eighteen, but his age didn’t interfere when he was on duty because he was raised in the strict environment of the royal academy. He wasn’t as tall as the average adults in the fleet, but it didn’t matter to him as he could impose his presence with his voice and manners.
  "South team, reporting. We tried to signal the fleet of the Order multiple times without success. We didn’t engage as you ordered but we did notice that the storm was approaching fast. We disembarked as much as possible on the shore and followed the usual procedure. When the storm hit and left, the Order was nowhere to be seen. They didn’t sank or crashed. It's safe to assume that they left before getting hit." Captain Censo reported.
  Censo looked quite unusual for a captain of the royal fleet, having a peg leg and an eyepatch. His clothes too were different, they were patched here and there, with the sleeves sewn back together at different places. Censo's look was so worn out and beaten up that he earned the nickname “undying” by his fellow crew. His usual role was to be a spear head to most skirmishes and his look was a testament to all the battles he survived, but the recent loss of his left eye forced him to take missions with low risks.
  Afarin nodded approvingly to Censo's report before turning to Artin who hadn’t say a word until then.
  "In regards to the possible menace, an order has been sent to the rest of the Herikfer fleet. We are to defend the maritime cities of the threat. Since your ships are the fastest, we'll send you to Valiamer to regroup with the rest of the fleet. The laufer boats will stay in Premer until the Ahas situation is under control, then we'll head to Valiamer and act following the situation. It might be a conflict of multiple fronts, so make sure to rearm and rest before leaving, just do it as quickly as possible." Captain Artin declared with a serious look on his face.
  "Remember that the kingdom is being threatened. I trust your judgment on how to deal with the defense of the cities while I’m not with you." Admiral Afarin added, with trusting a smile. "Don’t let the kingdom down, men. And remember, you aren’t allowed to die without my order."
  The three captains chuckled before hitting their own chest with their fist and a grunt.
  "For Herik! We won’t die without your order!" They shouted.
  Afarin felt bad for having such loyal men but didn’t show her sentiment, instead she pumped her chest as well.
  "Make me proud of having you under my command!"
  The men grunted in approbation before quickly leaving to their own ship. The fleet stationed in Premer went back to life, the ships were crewed to their usual capacities, anchors were raised and sails were being deployed. The decks were once again bustling with the running around of crewmen and sailors hurrying to their post. Soon enough, almost every ship of the royal fleet left the docks to sail to the south, safe for twenty boats that carried flamethrowers, the laufer vessels stayed with the admiral who watched the sails of the departing ships sink into the horizon as the sun was setting behind the woods that surrounded Premer. Afarin hoped to be able to see them again and prayed that the Mother of the seas would favor them once again.
  Afardo slowly woke up from her deep sleep, finding an empty bucket at the foot of the bed as well as undone ropes. Groggy, she didn’t take time to get dressed and stumbled on the deck which was silent and bathed in the light of the night, some from some candles. There were some sailors walking around, minding their own business of moving crates back to where they were needed. For once, the young girl found her mother standing near the railing without the intention to throw up, instead looking at the horizon. With her foggy consciousness, she looked around before heading towards a rowboat. She tried her best to undo the knots of the ropes that kept the small embarkation to drift away. With a still sleepy mind, she finally managed to get herself an escape, struggling to row with her feeble arms. She found the task too hard and stood up to take the ladder to go back on the laufer, but a wave made her trip and fall in the water. Unfortunately, she didn’t make a splashing sound loud enough for people to notice it. The water was cold and still a bit agitated, the temperature made Afardo come to her senses and she began scream and flaying to stay above water, since she never knew how to swim. Her panicked screams were covered by the sailors who were in the mood to hum while working. Even with her best efforts, the young woman couldn’t stay afloat and her stamina quickly depleted. She was sinking, she could see the rowboat and the ropes that she undid but didn’t have the strength to reach any of it. She gave up, closed her eyes and mouth as she couldn’t scream for help and let the sea welcome her in her cold, uncaring depth.
  "I'm so stupid. Why did I do that?" She thought before running out of oxygen.
  She let out the air out of her lungs. But the sea didn’t accept her, instead, the waves pushed her towards the shore where washed away. Fate decided to let her live as a group of hooded figures noticed her silhouette on the sandy beach. They cautiously walked to her, discovering a naked Ahas looking young woman with seaweed on her. The hooded figures turned out to be city guards and took her as an escaped slave.
  "What do we do with her, guys?" One of them asked while shaking Afardo's shoulder.
  "Stupid slave who didn’t know that there was going to be a storm, huh? If she's still alive, we'll bring her to the slave center, if not, we'll bury her here. I don’t want to get hit by the plague again." Another declared, poking her unconscious body with his feet.
  Thankfully for her, she coughed out water. The guards scrambled to make sure that she'd survive as one preformed mouth-to-mouth breathing, it didn’t take long before she coughed out all the water in her lungs with an exhausted breathing.
  "What the... where am I?" Afardo asked as she came back to her senses, only to be surrounded by four men.
  One of them took out his hood and put it on her.
  "Be thankful that we saved your cheap slave life, Ahas. Now, where is your master?" The same one asked while lifting her in her feet and giving support.
  "I don’t have a master. My name if Afardo." She replied with an innocent tone in her voice.
  A guard mumbled something before turning to his peers with a grave expression on his face. He walked to her and held her arm.
  "Daughter of the house of Afar. We'll bring you to the castle to get you some clothes and send you back to Valiamer by boat. Is that ok?" The same person explained before helping the girl to stay on her feet.
  "Someone important, then? Are you sure you’re from Afar? I don’t remember that they had Ahas." Another guard declared before getting knocked down by a rock thrown at his head.
  The three other guards got surprised by the sudden attack and looked around in panic. Another stone was thrown at them, but bounced on their raised shield. The man who understood the meaning of Afardo's name pushed the confused girl behind him. His actions made him look like the leader of that patrol to the eyes of the unknown attackers, they guessed that he was a sergeant at best.
  "They might be after the Afardo! Protect her! Lord Olf might get in trouble if she gets hurts or kidnapped!" He barked before finally meeting the attackers.
  The aggressors were also hooded figures, they were also four. They had rocks in one hand and a dagger in the other, they quickly dropped the projectiles as the three remaining city guards were now using their shield. One of the attackers pointed his weapon to the one protecting Afardo and said something in an unknown tongue.
  "Foreigners. Stay in formation and we'll get through it. If you, take his spear and shield." The sergeant said to Afardo while pointing at the unconscious guard.
  The young girl hesitated to follow his advice. The aggressors used the distraction to strike the group leader with what looked like a pouch full of something. The projectile hit the man's head, making him fall on the ground and completely demoralised the other two guards who decided to flee because of the lack of leadership. Afardo was once again in a helpless situation, left alone with four unknown hooded figures. The one who spoke in an unknown language pulled down his hood, she was an Ahas.
  "Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" She spoke in Shashari, the common tongue of the Ahas.
  Afardo felt as if she knew the language, then she remembered that her adoptive mother mainly talked about Ahas slang. The young woman tried her best to remember what words to say but what came out of her mouth sounded like a blur of incomprehensible nonsense. The Ahas woman looked at her companions then put her hand on Afardo's forehead.
  "They must have really messed you up, huh? Don’t worry, we'll get you back to our hideout. Hociq, give her the cloth you gathered from earlier." The female Ahas ordered to another one who carried a big backpack.
  The person designated as Hociq pulled out some pants and shirts from the backpack, handing them to the naked Afardo that only wore the hood of one of the city guards. The runaway girl came to realise that the Ahas team was only composed of older women who seemed to have battle experience from the number of scars on their face. The female leader's left eye seemed to be partially blind as the right iris and pupil had a milky colour.
  "What's your name, by the way?" The half blind woman asked after that the rescued girl was dressed.
  Once again, the girl didn’t understand much but felt like presenting herself was a sensible thing to do. After observing the people around her, she came to believe that pumping her chest was a form a salute.
  "I'm Afardo, I'm a few weeks old." She said in Meeri, the language commonly used in the area.
  Having fought and lived in the area of Premer for quite a long time, such common words were easily understood by the Ahas fighters. It did made them curious as to why the girl, that they considered one of theirs, was speaking the enemy's tongue.
  "A stranded one, huh? Don’t worry, when we'll bring you back, you'll be speaking a more civilised tongue." The female leader laughed while giving a friendly pat on Afardo's shoulder. "You're a burden?"
  "I'm not a burden! I'm Afardo. My mother is Afarin now, you've heard of Afarin Hol?"
  The mention of the admiral's name seemed to ring a bell as the women stopped on their track before turning to Afardo who looked confused at their behaviour. The Ahas opened their mouth, bearing their fang, but they didn’t drip any poison, it was more of a smile. They proceeded in pulling up their left sleeve, displaying their skin pattern and a tattoo that looked like a snake in an egg. The leader pounced on Afardo, who became even more confused in that weird display, and began speaking fluently in Meeri.
  "A kin! You're a Ho! Now we definitely have to bring you back to Ahas land! Girls, let's hurry back to the headquarters instead! By the way, we are Ho too! I'm Hohon. You already know Hociq, the one with the backpack. Here's Hoshee, she's the one who threw the projectiles with precision. And the one with a big cutting scar on her mouth is Hony, don’t ask how she get her scar though." Hohon excitedly explained, pointing at each women who waved or bowed when presented.
  The Ahas hurried their pace to their main base, a renovated building that used to be an orphanage. In their long walk, Afardo took a better look at each of the women to have a better way to differentiate them. Hohon was the tallest of the group, being slightly above the one meter sixty, and the fact that she had one half blind eye made it quite easy to remember. Hociq, on the other hand, was the shortest, being one meter forty, she was pretty small compared to the female average height of one and a half meter. The woman named Hoshee attracted Afardo's attention by the fact that her skin colour was dark red as well as her eyes, which were similar to cats. The fourth woman, Hony, didn’t have a lot of noticeable physical trait aside from her mouth scar, but she could notice some furtive glance from the woman who looked slightly older than Afardo's own appearance.
  Once they arrived in front of the main entrance, Hohon, the leader, hissed at the door which opened slowly before letting the group enter. For some reason unknown to Afardo, Hoshee covered her eyes as she stepped inside. They were met by a handful of hooded Ahas who were sitting in front of two humans, listening to what they talking about. The room occupants simultaneously turned to look at the newcomers.
  "Fifth squad of the outer wall reporting. Are we interrupting something?" Hohon asked, scanning the well lit room.
  The female human sighed before nodding to confirm their interruption.
  "Can it wait? We're almost finished with the meeting." Karen Smith said, with an annoyed look on her face.
  The fifth squad and Afardo were invited to sit at a table and waited patiently for the humans to finish, they were talking about the storm and how they had to revise their plan because of it. The Ahas woman named Hony brushed the Afardo's hand before gently holding it, it surprised the young girl who looked at the slightly older one who wore a gentle smile even if it was a bit disturbed by the scar on her mouth.
  "You'll be welcomed in the sisterhood soon enough, maybe I'll be the lucky one to initiate you to our ritual. Don’t worry, I'll be gentle." Hony said with a sweet voice while affectionately caressing Afardo's hand who seemed stunned by that. "I'll take care precious care of you."
  The girl stared in confusion and before she could talk, the meeting was over and Hohon stood up, gathering the attention on herself. She clicked her tongue to ask for silence as some were whispering to one another.
  "Brothers and sisters, I'm excited to present to you a stranded one. She ended up here, only able to speak barbaric. Thankfully, we saved her from being used by human men who had already stripped her." Hohon proudly explained, making Afardo stand up but she noticed that it didn’t interest the other too much. "But! We found out that she's a Ho!"
  The two humans held a snicker, thankfully for them, most of the female Ahas present in the room let out a pleasantly surprised yelp while the male Ahas were left in silent confusion. Woso was there too and raised his hand in a form of protest.
  "Is that a woman topic? Do we have to care?" He bluntly asked, looking at the other men in the meeting room.
  "A word bearer doesn’t know what Ho is? Surely your mother should. "Hohon declared, with a bit of surprise in her expression. "It's simple, we are the followers of Ho, the Mother figure, She who takes care of her daughters and bring fertility and strength to those who bear children! After all, most of us here are named after Her." Hohon explained with the approving nods of the women, aside from those who were born a few days ago and didn’t know about Ho.
  Karen stepped in, feeling like such conversation was useless and a waste of time for her and the operation as a whole.
  "Ok, so go to the point. It's already past midnight and most of us are tired."
  "Well, this girl is Afardo Hol! A Ho and most importantly, a kin of the director of the breeding district of our home city! Hol is closer to Ho than any of our sisters of Falmer. If we can bring back her kin, we'll surely be blessed with strength and fertility for generations!"
  Markus, who had remained silent, decided to intervene before Karen acted rudely towards the excited Ahas. He poked at her side and silently made her understand to let them be for the moment, since having the cooperation and unity of the Ahas was a priority. The followers of Ho gathered around the Afardo who felt overwhelmed by their friendliness, she was smiling at their cheers and praises. Some even proposed to bring in all the sisters at once. Markus looked at one of his male Ahas friend and nodded, asking him to keep an eye on the women. The person in question carried surgical tools on an armband. He had scalpels, scissors and clamps.

---

Chapter 27: hostile environment
  Jacob became more and more annoyed at his friends sexual shenanigans, as he woke up and found his couch in quite a mess. It was covered in stains, both from sweat and cum. The man also found clothes all around the living room and an unused condom on the table. With a sigh, he took the remote and turned off the television. Jacob didn’t know if they did it on purpose, but every time the other two would have sex, they'd always do it loud and leave a mess behind, unless it was in Daniel's room. Thankfully, most of their roll in the hay were in his bedroom.
  "Guys, I'm okay with you doing your thing, but please clean up after you're done. I'm not your maid. I know it's gross but you've got to clean the couch." He protested when he saw the couple leaving their nest.
  "Morning, bro. Sorry for leaving the living room like that, we were pretty exhausted. Lemme make it up by preparing breakfast." Daniel apologised after yawning.
  "Sure, sure. Hey! Put on some clothes, you idiot!" Jacob ordered when he noticed Abby's birthday suit.
  The naked woman pulled out her tongue with a smile, making the man groan.
  "Can't handle seeing a naked girl, cousin? You've already seen countless before, right?" She taunted while proudly puffing out her chest before turning to Daniel who was already in the kitchen. "Oh, Dan, I'd like some bacon with eggs for breakfast."
  Abby's fuck buddy was already preparing some bacon, so he agreed to her demand. Jacob looked a bit annoyed, frowning at his cousin who was wearing a stupid smile on her face.
  "You know, you can also make your own breakfast too. Don’t abuse of Dan's kindness. He's already done so much for us when we were young." He scolded her, with a serious expression.
  The still-naked girl raised an eyebrow to his comment, looking like she didn’t understood him.
  "Implying that we aren’t young anymore?"
  "You get what I'm saying. And put on some clothes, we aren’t in a naturist resort."
  "Fine, dad. I'll put on some clothes." She conceded, with a clear look of defeat on her face. "But after breakfast!" She laughed before running off to the kitchen.
  Jacob was about to protest when he heard the doorbell. He reluctantly decided to see who was at the door in the morning, he secretly hoped that it wasn’t a neighbour who would complaint about the noise of yesterday's night. He looked through the door peep hole and was more than surprised when he saw that his father was outside.
  His dad looked like the typical businessman, a nice suit and a leather briefcase. His hair was slightly less dense than in his youth and some lone grey strands could be noticed in his slick haircut. Some could compare his attitude to the one of loan sharks, earning him the nickname of Jaws by his rivals.
  With a gulp, Jacob quickly brushed his hair with the hand and opened the door, letting in his old man who walked in with a regal demeanour. The man easily noticed the messy living room and snickered at his son.
  "Having fun, I see?" He commented, gauging his son's reaction.
  "You know I'm tidy, father. Can I ask what brings you here this morning?" Jacob asked with honesty in his voice.
  "A father can’t visit his favourite son in his apartment?" The man said while walking towards the kitchen where some pleasant smell was emanating.
  Jacob's dad wasn’t prepared to see his niece flaunting her body while eating some breakfast while another man was in the middle of frying more bacon. The businessman quickly recognised the cook as Daniel, a friend of his son.
  "Well, looks like you've all grown up. Even you Daniel, you became quite a man. As for you, Abby... looks like my sister passed down that weird habit to you... " the man commented before taking a seat, resting his briefcase on his laps.
  After some short greetings, everyone sat down at the kitchen table to eat Dan's eggs and bacon. The two best friends couldn’t hide their unease, both from Abby's type of clothing and the presence of Jacob's father. The two young men were sitting opposite to each other, with Dan being next to Abby and the father next to the son.
  "I guess I should finally answer your question, Jack. That Spanish company, Marronas, is getting more and more persistent in buying the family business. Since I have bad feelings about them, I'd like that you and your friend... And Abby?" He added, acknowledging his niece's presence. "To move out somewhere far away, where they can’t easily find you. Rosalie Clark confirmed my suspicion when she noticed their hidden weapons as well as their covered tattoos."
  The trio briefly exchanges looks of disbeliefs before Jacob's father pulled out some smartphones and wads of cash out of the leather briefcase.
  "In case they already gathered informations about you, I've got some phones and cash for you to use in emergency. Once I made sure that they won’t pose a threat to any member of the family, or the employees, I'll contact you. I don’t know how long it's going to take, but I hope it'll be just a minor inconvenience for you all."
  Daniel decided to stand up after getting an approving nod from Abby who got the same idea as him.
  "Actually, Abby's boss have sent her and I to some foreign lands for an undetermined period of time. Maybe we can convince them to take Jack with us? That way we won’t be too much of a burden."
  The father closed his eyes and rubbed his chin, pondering.
  "The Argo is sending you to another world, right? Well, I guess I could buy some time before they become aggressive. I can guarantee you a week if they accept my sponsor for the future conventions." He declared, looking directly into Abby's eyes who nodded in compliance.
  Being reassured about his son's safety, the man smiled and proceeded in eating breakfast with relaxed shoulders. They were finishing their meal when the doorbell rang again, Jacob let out an annoyed sigh and went to see who was at the door. To his surprise, it was the redhead named Amy who looked rather tired, with visible dark circles under her eyes as well as a bite mark on her neck. Unlike Jacob's father, she was wearing grey military fatigues, looking like a grunt from an RTS game.
  "Sup, Jack. Can I crash at your house for a couple of days? There's some infighting at my company, so I'm not sure I can go to their safe house." Amy asked with a rough croaky voice.
  "Damn, you look like shit. Sure? Come on in, though I have to say. My dad is visiting me and the other two are still here."
  "Fine by me, I wouldn’t even give a shit if the president of the United States were to be here." She replied, a bit grumpy.
  With a groan, the small redhead dragged her backpack, that was lying against the wall on the hallway, inside the apartment. The morning was getting weirder and weirder for Jacob, especially when Amy greeted his father by his first name.
  "Mo'ning, Mark. Don’t mind me." She said with a smile for which she gathered her energy before quickly frowning at Abby. "Why you naked?"
  "Oh, so you two met? Well I guess that's my cue to get out. Say 'hi' to your uncle from me." Mark, the father, said before waving goodbye and leaving as casually as he came in.
  Jacob hugged his dad, telling him something then accompanied him to the door where two bodyguards were waiting, hiding in plain sight by pretending to be occupied by their turned off phone.
  "You know, I was having a great morning until you came. Are you going to plant more spy-cams and the likes?" Abby grumpily asked to an even more grumpy Amy.
  "Girl, if I wanted, I'd already have access to all the data on your computer in your bedroom. I’m just crashing by for a couple of days."
  Daniel whistled at her miserable appearance, to him, she looked like a depressed military grunt that could been seen as a background character in an action movie. Amy didn’t notice him, but the whistling made her turn her head towards him.
  "Thick D, how you doin'?" Amy acknowledged with a nod.
  "Good, how about you?" Dan automatically replied.
  Amy raised an eyebrow before noticing an empty plate in front of one with a handful bacon on it. She glanced at those two before pointing at the food with her chin.
  "If I say good, can I get that? I haven’t eaten for twelve hours and I’m starving."
  "Sure, go ahead." Daniel replied, pushing the food towards the starving woman who proceeded in devouring the leftovers.
  Jacob came back just in time to see Amy licking an empty plate, while sitting at his seat. He let out a disappointed noise as he was still a bit hungry, instead on focusing on the bad events of the morning, he decided to make the most of it by making some strawberry milkshake. Once Amy had finished eating, she looked at Jack's buff body while licking her lips, earning her a disapproving look from Abby and a panicked one from Daniel. The strong man was humming to himself while filling the blender.
  "So, how was your trip? From what I understood, you were in troubles during the phone call." Dan asked over the loud sound of the machine, so that he could defuse the tension.
  "I don’t know if I can tell you, but it was... challenging, to say the least. Thankfully, I had backups nearby. I managed to get out of the mess in a bit more than two days, but I encountered a storm on my way back. I feel bad for all the guys who were sent to rescue me." Amy explained while looking around from time to time.
  She got up and inspected the room before going back to her seat, a bit puzzled. Abby had a suspicion on what Amy was doing and gave her a smug expression.
  "Can't find your spying tools? I easily found them and got rid of them." She boasted while puffing her breast to get Dan's attention, which worked.
  Amy gave a reaction that Abby didn’t expect, she let out a sigh of relief while holding her chest, almost at the verge of tears.
  "Good. Then I can speak freely. I need to ask you what you know about Avila so that I can tell what I can whiteout leaking important information. I need to empty my bag." Amy explained, relieved.
  Abby's stern expression relaxed a bit, since she knew what it felt to be stranded.
  "I know quite a lot, since I’m one of the writers of the guide." Abby proudly declared before turning to her friends. "Dan knows a bit and Jack knows... nothing, but he'll be coming with us for a future expedition."
  "That's... you're A. Rodriguez? Well, that'll help a lot actually. So, we all know about the Premer incident involving Ahas and humans. Well, the big boss wasn’t aware of such incident and sent a handful of loyal agents to investigate because there might have been some agent of the Order involved in it. But there were some... disagreements. So here I am, in enemy territory."
  "What do you mean?" Aren’t we not friendly?" Jacob laughed after he was done making his smoothies.
  Feeling generous, he proposed some to his guests thought most refused except for Abby who had an idea in mind when she found a silly straw in a drawer of the kitchen.
  "Friendly? Probably. But... " Amy started before the noisy slurping sounds that Abby made.
  Abby proceeded in interrupting Amy with her noise until Jacob decided to lightly slap the back of her head. The annoying girl decided to pout while snuggling Daniel who didn’t know how to react or where to hold her from the added weight. Amy smiled at Jacob for his help.
  "The big boss endorses a give-and-take kind of relation, so I'll give something in exchange for the hospitality. What do you say, big guy?" The ginger asked with a wink while resting her hand on Jack's thigh who quickly dismissed it.
  "Sorry, I made a promise to someone else, so we can't have fun anymore." Jacob explained, feeling sorry for the restriction.
  "Aww, you've got a girlfriend? Well, that's a dick in less in my list. How about I pay for the food or do the cleaning? Sounds good?" Amy said, a bit disappointed.
  Abby the naked girl, who was snuggling against her fuck buddy Daniel, decided to speak up her mind since she was still wary of the redhead girl.
  "Jack, are you really going to let an Order girl stay? She might cause troubles."
  The man of the house decided to act like it by dismissing his cousin's concerns.
  "Doesn’t matter, we'll be leaving in a few days since this place isn’t going to be safe." He replied with confidence.
  "Oh? The Argo put you in danger already? I'd propose that you'd join the Order but yeah... we're in the same situation in the end."
  "Well, what would you do if some unknown dangerous people threatened your life?" Daniel asked, trying to ignore the erection that poked the girl on his laps.
  "Under usual circumstances, I'd secure my area, call for backups and plan to destroy them throughly. Now? I'd call for some people I can trust and find a safe place. What about you then? Are you sure your new location is safe from them? What do you know about the hostiles?"
  "Why do you want to know?" Abby asked with suspicion while secretly dealing with Dan's manhood by rubbing her thighs together without the other noticing it.
  "Well you asked a question, I answered and replied with another question. That's usually how a conversation work, girl."
  Abby was about to get up but Dan held her back, accidentally squeezing her stomach, making her squeak while the other two giggled. The tanned girl blushed at the one handling her, making him blush as well.
  "Well actually, what would it take for you to help us in that matter? It can be money or whatever. I know you're from the Order and my friends are from the Argo. Truth is, we're more like collaterals. You know that my father owns a company, but some people are getting aggressive to obtain it, even going as far as carrying hidden guns." Jacob admitted, ignoring Abby's annoyed look.
  Amy rubbed her left side with a worried look before glancing at the girl who work at a rival company.
  "Huh... I'm not the one to talk, but I’m carrying one right now. Some of my colleagues also have concealed weapons, since we actually have a dangerous job. Are you sure that they are really going to cause violence? What if they're some kind of undercover cops?"
  "Huh? They're more like cartel people, they sport some distinct tattoo and call themselves the Marronas." Jacob replied.
  Amy's tired expression soon changed for a panicked surprise, with her eyes widened and her mouth frowning. Her reaction made the other three worry, especially Abby who just learnt the name of the dangerous group that was threatening her friends.
  "You mean they're a Brown variant?!" The girls exclaimed at the same time.
  The two rivals were so in synch that they looked at each other with the same surprised expression, though one was blushing a bit. Both had the same idea and went through their phone, Abby's was lying on the kitchen counter while Amy's was in her backpack, under her chair. Daniel quickly reacted by putting back his cock in his pants without anyone noticing, slightly relieved that his new experience wasn’t discovered. Having hidden sexual intercourse in front of an unsuspecting audience was thrilling but mostly scary for him.
  "I haven’t got any Marronas in the database, is that an unaffiliated third party of yours?" Abby asked with a calm voice, staring at her screen in disbelief.
  The boys listened with one ear, feeling like they weren’t involved, though they were still a bit anxious about the unknown threat.
  "Nope, the big boss confirmed it. Nice lady by the way." Amy replied, with visible concern in her voice outside of the compliment.
  The news didn’t reassure the naked girl who frowned before shivering.
  "I don’t know if I should be relieved or not. I'm not comfortable anymore." Abby said before running back to her bedroom.
  The tired Amy turned to the guys who were silently watching them. Under normal circumstances, she would have teased them, but her mind was too foggy.
  "I'll take a nap on the couch, wake me if something interesting happens." The redhead declared before shuffling her feet to the living room and collapsing on the piece of furniture.
  It didn’t take long before she realises where her head landed, her face contorted in disgust, she let out a clear.
  "Eww!"
  But her body didn’t allow her to get up, instead she rolled on her side to avoid most of the cum stains and get a better lying position. She quickly fell asleep, dreaming of being in a comfy bed. The time for Abby to get dressed, Jacob had already finished cleaning the dishes with the help of Daniel while doing some small talk that the clothed woman barely heard. To their surprise, the tanned girl was wearing a blue tracksuit that didn’t compliment her figure.
  "Yo. Does it make me look fat?" She joked, posing sideway.
  "For someone who isn’t feeling comfortable, you seem pretty laidback." Jack commented before looking her up and down with a frown.
  Daniel was enjoying her casual look, being used of seeing Abby in tight outfits, with shirts that would compress chest or skirts squeezing her ass, though she still wore her half-moon glasses at the edge of her nose.
  "You're thinking to be an Insta girl?" Daniel asked without thinking.
  "Insta what? Anyway, I’ll be going to the Argo headquarters. I think that any stranger wouldn’t notice me too much. I look like some random housewife." Abby said, picking up a sport bag with her usual clothes in it.
  "You can be my housewife, if you wanna." Dan replied as both a joke and a semi serious proposition.
  The young woman didn’t understand his compliment, on the other hand, Jacob groaned at the cheesy line that his best friend pulled out. After a short moment of silence, where it occurred to Daniel that the cute girl in sportswear might not have any social platform since he didn’t remember seeing any application on her flip phone. Then he realised that she had a flip phone.
  "I still need some kind of escort, would any of you boys accompany me? How about you, cuz? That way you'll finally see where I work at." Abby laughed, heading towards the door.
  "Guess you'll have to hold the fort, Dan." Jack shrugged, going to his bedroom to wear something similar to his cousin who was already waiting at the entrance.
  "Don't worry about me, I've got some reading to do. And from Abby's look, I might have to keep an eye out for Amy."
  "As long as you clean up the mess. I expect you to have removed all the stains form the couch for when we come back." Jacob declared before disappearing in his bedroom.
  With the boys distracting each other, Abby used the opportunity to do something to the peephole of the door, blowing a kiss to Dan when she thought that he almost caught her in the act of fiddling with the door. After a couple of minutes, Jacob came out, dressed like a jogger. The two people dressed in jogging soon headed out after waving goodbye to the young man who was staying in the apartment.
  Wanting to stay true to his word, Daniel gently woke up the sleeping Amy who begrudgingly opened her eyes with a groan.
  "Five more minutes, dude." She mumbled.
  "I figured that you might want to sleep on something cleaner. You can sleep in one of the guest rooms." He softly proposed.
  "Ugh... couldn't you have said it sooner? Is that your spunk?" Amy complained, wiping some wetness on her cheek.
  Feeling a bit ashamed, Dan remained silent, pulling out a piece of cloth from a box. Even in her state, Amy was still weirded out by the man's method of cleaning. With a sigh, she touched his hand that was scrubbing the couch.
  "You need vinegar and warm water to clean a fabric sofa. Just... draw me a nice bath and I'll help you clean the cum stains." The tired Amy said before resting her head. "Wake me up when I can take a bath."
  "Are you serious? First breakfast, now a bath?" Daniel complained but still complied.
  "Good, that's spouse material." The redhead smiled before drifting back to sleep.
  Accepting his role of butler, Daniel took care of attending to the girl's demand, being used to helping Abby until now. He still felt some pride for being able to please some girls outside of helping his mother around the house, that's when he thought of calling his parents to give them some news. They were delighted to hear from him, especially when he talked about the few girls he met and had frequent contacts with.

[Cath]

Chapter 28: benefit of the doubt
  Lord Olf of Premer had been awoken very early in the morning after getting reports of a guard patrol getting attacked outside of the city walls. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if they didn’t mention the name of Afarin's daughter: Afardo, and that she got kidnapped. Not wanting to get in troubles for not saving the child of the admiral of the royal fleet, the man of power decided to hush the concerns aside, making sure that those who knew about the kidnapping wouldn’t come to the naval officer's ears. He would ask his captains of the guard to comb the area, but after thinking about it, he summoned his foreign consultant who were acting as his spymasters. The two people arrived almost instantly, as if they already knew that they were about to be summoned.
  "Good morning, Lord Olf. We've got some information, but maybe you have something to tell us?" Karen declared with her usual assertiveness.
  Thankfully for the woman who was always seen wearing chest armour, the governor was always amused to see a woman talking to him as if they were equals. As for the peasant looking man behind Karen, Olf liked his humble but educated attitude.
  "Good morning to you too." He replied, holding a yawn. "I've got an impromptu assignment, it shouldn’t take too long for you and your network."
  "That's good to hear, what is it, that you want us to do?" Markus asked with his soft voice.
  "Turns out, the admiral's daughter got kidnapped. I shouldn’t explain how important it is that find her as quickly as possible without the woman to notice. Afarin may be hard to deal with, but she's still an important person." Olf explained, sighing every time he had to think with about the admiral.
  Karen and Markus had a moment of realisation, as they remembered the admiral's full name: Afarin Hol. They shared a look of surprise, wondering what that daughter was up to.

  Meanwhile, in the orphanage, the young woman was sitting on a chair in the middle of the dorm, surrounded by numerous female Ahas. In front of Afardo, stood Hony, the woman with a big scar on the mouth. They all wore a cloak with hood, the snake in the egg symbol painted on it, except the sitting girl who was a bit confused as to why they were silently gathered around her.
  "Sister Afardo, would you please remove your clothes?" Hony ceremoniously asked with a bow.
  The girl complied without asking question, not showing any embarrassment as she undressed herself in front of so many people. Once done, she made sure to sit straight on the chair. Hony's posture made it clear, she was pleased by what she was seeing, a smile could be seen under her hood. The Ahas reached for her, touching her cheek and running her finger down her neck and stopping in the middle of Afardo's chest, feeling the girl's heartbeat.
  "You don’t feel scared or the least intimidated by being uncovered. I take it you are acquainted with being bare in front of someone other than family." Hony asked with subtle pressure of the finger, getting a better feel of the girl's heartbeat.
  "I've already gotten naked in front of men, not much in front of women." Afardo replied without any hesitation or deceit.
  Not feeling any difference, Hony smiled and continued running down her finger before stopping again on her belly, pressing against it, not feeling any irregularity. For the Ahas conducting the inspection, it made her let out a sigh of relief. The absence of questions made the other women share some whispers that were quickly hushed by Hohon, the tall half blind Ahas. Hony removed her cloak, revealing her naked body covered in scars. She took Afardo's hands, putting one on her left boob and the other on her slit. The sitting woman could feel the warm skin of the other before feeling some heat in her own chest.
  "You will have to take care of both, as a woman and a future mother." Hony declared before letting go of Afardo. "Since you're used to having men, show me the state of your doors."
  The request stunned the girl who, for the first time during the initiation, decided to look around to see if the others had heard the same thing as her. Getting no answer from the Ahas women, Afardo spread her legs, displaying her puffy slit. Hony pressed a finger against it, making the young woman moan out of surprise, earning herself a few more poking at difference places.
  "You're indeed a mixed breed but you've taken more from us than from the other race. You're also grown to sexual maturity. Good." Hony nodded before kneeling in front of the chair. "How many times have you tainted your hold with human men?" She asked, holding Afardo's wrist.
  "I don't know, I’ve never learn how to count. It was more than one time. I mostly did it in Picha's bedroom, sometimes he would invite someone to watch us have sex."
  Her answer created loud whispers amongst the Ahas which were once against silenced by Hohon. Hony gently blew on the young woman's slit, making her shiver.
  "Still sensitive. It's a good sign. Now, for the unpleasant part… " Hony declared with a hint of disgust in her voice before pulling out a long thin tongue. "Most initiates are sealed ones, making the whole process pretty short. But since you're a stranded one and a mixed breed at that, I'll have to make sure that there are no oddities with your hold. Don't worry, this disgusting process will be done quickly."
  "What are you talking about?" A concerned Afardo asked before getting her lower lips kissed, then parted by a couple of fingers.
  Holding a moan by covering her mouth, the young woman couldn’t help but get hard. As she was getting her pussy penetrated by a tongue that scraped her walls, twirling inside her, she almost forgot that she was surrounded by Ahas women who were humming a tune that she thought she recognised. Hony's nose brushed against her initiate's clit as she was pushing her tongue deep inside the tight snatch that began to quiver. The older woman's tongue was focused on feeling for any irregularities, either in texture or taste, making Afardo struggle to hold her moans. For what felt an eternity for the both of them, the Ahas pulled out of the girl who came in her mouth, noticing the sitting one panting while holding her chest in front of a humming crowd. The scarred lady wiped her lips with her backhand before getting up and turning to Hohon who held out a small box.
  "She's prepared for her future duties, she has no flaws inside of her. Afardo is ready to become one of us."
  "I don't mind getting another session like that." The young initiate managed to say.
  Holding a needle and some ink, Hony looked at the girl with an intrigued expression before sitting in front of her, on a chair that one of the women placed a moment ago. An Ahas strongly held the initiate's left arm, wearing a sorry look on her face as they all knew what was going to happen, with the exception of Afardo.
  "You're a stranded one with the name of someone important, there must have been a reason for that. As a favour and for your own sake, I will crave our symbol as subtly as possible, so that your sisters will be able to recognise it while outsider won’t be. The bare minimum should still allow you to communicate with another follower nearby. It will sting a bit, do you want something to bite on? Or do you want someone to knock you out? Or… " Hony proposed, noticing a white trickle coming out of the initiate's twat.
  If Ho's symbol was made during a ritual, it could be imbued with magic channelled through chants. Despite having very few magic potential on their own, Ahas managed to still use spells through either ritual or divine magic, though those ones required a lot of time, so unusable in battle. Usually, followers of Ho could communicate with each other through the symbol, but being valuable assets in the reproduction chain, they were often put far away from battle. Lord Falmer hated it when he gambled to have almost the entirety of the followers infiltrate the city of Premer.
  Trying to hide her excitement, the master of the ceremony rubbed her legs together while looking at her peers and glancing at the wet cunt of the girl that was still panting, her pussy lips opening and closing as she was breathing hard, making quiet wet noises at the same time.
  "Is it necessary to have that symbol?" Afardo managed to ask.
  "Of course, it's so that we can recognise each other, only bearing the name of Ho means very few. Our symbol will guarantee you the best of our services, be it food, shelter or a good mate. Anything that can ensure a strong healthy lineage, because that's the true purpose of our sisterhood."
  The mention of their services piked Afardo's interest, enjoying eating well and having a good partner were pretty convenient, she missed a man's attention in bed. The only males she frequented were crewmen of her adoptive mother, who didn’t give her much attention outside of bringing her back to the Laufer when she tried to escape and they never tried to do anything to her, following the admiral's order.

  Back in the throne room, Markus had finished explaining that one of their slaves had found the missing girl and brought her back to them, making sure to omit the fact that they were the ones who attacked the guard patrol.
  "So let me get this straight." Lord Olf began, rubbing his temples. "A group of slaves, coming back late from work, found her lying unconsciously while being half naked and thinking she was one of them, they decided to bring her back to safety to your base?"
  "Exactly. Well, thankfully, she gave us her name. We can easily bring her back to her mother without much trouble." Karen confidently proposed. "We'll bring her to your city guards as soon as you give us the word."
  Olf shook his head, remembering the words that Afarin yelled at Picha's men when they tried to bring Afardo back to the castle. From the messenger, she was ready to attack him, baring her venomous fangs at him and even threatening him by enticing her own men to lynch the Premer men who tried to approach the boat.
  "That won't do. The admiral's men are very hostile towards Premer men, it would be preferable if outsiders like you would bring her back. Maybe you could even try to gain her trust. That way it'll be easier to gather more information." The governor of the city proposed, seeing that his informants were pretty receptive to his idea.
  "Of course! We'll be sure to do it ourselves then. It'll be over soon." Karen approved.
  "Excellent. I have nothing else to say, I trust your discretion in that matter." Lord Olf rejoiced, getting up to shake their hand as a thank.
  His two information gatherers shared a look before accepting the handshake, quickly departing afterward. With contempt, Olf watched them leave as he was thinking of what he should order for breakfast, being in the mood for some seafood. His choice was probably influenced by the salty smell coming from outside as the storm had passed by.

  The young Afardo was experiencing quite a new feeling as both pain and pleasure were washing through her body, because she was being punctured by a needle in her forearm at the same time as being eaten out. The master of the ceremony, while still being as naked as the initiated girl, was meticulously injecting ink under Afardo's skin while another Ahas woman had her tongue deep in a dripping pussy. Enjoying being taken care like no man ever had, Afarin's daughter could almost forget the pain of getting stabbed. Hony glanced from time to time, her focused expression slightly changing each time she looked at the woman who had her tongue dancing in the girl's wet slit, feeling envious. The humming of the surrounding Ahas easily drowned the moans and whines, the tall Hohon leading them by singing in an ancient tongue, older than Shashari. In the crowd, some young ones were discreetly rubbing themselves as they were intensely watching someone like them getting eaten. They could clearly see the pleasure deforming her pretty face as she was biting her lower lip, her eyes rolled up in overwhelming ecstasy. As the climax was getting closer, their voice were getting louder and louder, the symbol was getting completed and Afardo's legs were shaking, the unknown Ahas girl took is as a cue to pick up her pace.
  "Almost done, hold on tight." Hony reassured.
  "I'm... " Afardo moaned as her legs were violently shaking.
  Understanding that the girl's body would lash out thanks to the skilful tongue of the Ahas girl that was way too eager to taste her cum, Hony quickly finished inserting the ink before stepping back to admire one of her best work so far. It was just in time as Afardo's scream temporarily deafened the crowd, her drenched pussy was contracting around the invading tongue, gripping it tightly and forcing the one who was eating her out to stay still while wearing a surprised expression. Hohon finished singing was a deep voice that could be barely heard.
  "Ho's blessing will permeate us with her strength and fertility." She finished singing before getting doused in Afardo's sexual fluids.
  Barely able to control herself anymore, Hony pounced of the orgasming girl and embarrassed her with vigour, kissing her furiously on her lips as if to muffle her moans, while the unknown Ahas girl finally managed to get back her tongue before deciding to turn her attention to the new slit presented to her. The situation quickly degenerated as the surrounding young women who, until then, were discreetly rubbing themselves, decided to overtly seek release by imitating what they saw with the first one that looked into such devious act by licking, fingering or even embracing each other. If Afardo wasn’t too busy embracing Hony, she could notice that everyone was actually naked under their cloak. The older Ahas looked at it with concern before turning to their leader, Hohon who seemed to be amused by such chaotic display of sexuality while wringing her cum soaked cloak. She snickered before shouting, her voice booming in the room that was filled with moans until that.
  "While I appreciate the preparation for sexual endeavours, I would prefer if you showed restraints. Lust is a powerful thing but you shouldn’t get swayed by it so easily. I won’t lecture you about only engaging with someone of the opposite sex because I was once like you. But do remember that such attachment will hinder your capacity as future child bearer. Ho loves you no matter what, wether you're into females or males, but remember why we're here. Don’t lose sight of our goal." She declared with a somewhat serious expression on her face, looking like a mother who's trying to educate her children.
  The young Ahas halfheartedly stopped their shenanigans not before sharing a last regretful look to the person they were rubbing against. Afardo felt disappointed that her embrace with Hony came to an end as she actually enjoyed the warmth of her body pressed against hers. The followers of Ho were beginning to exit the dorm room one by one, sharing whispers and playful looks for those who became intimate with others. In the end, only Afardo, Hony, Hohon and the unknown Ahas girl remained in the room, the tall woman was about to say something to them when Karen barged in the room with Marcus in tow.
  "We have to get Afardo back to her mother before she notices her disappearance." The human woman declared, slightly out of breath.
  "What? Why?" Protested Hony and Afardo, like spoiled children.
  Marcus stepped forward, his imposing stature being contrasted by his gentle manners quickly brought the attention towards him.
  "Lord Olf requires that we bring back the admiral's daughter before it starts any more troubles." Marcus softly explained before turning his attention to Afardo who was now wearing a cloak of Ho. "I'm sure your mother is worried sick that you've disappeared."
  Karen shot him an annoyed look, she grunted at his comment before signalling to Afardo to follow them. The young girl mindlessly obeyed before Hohon grabbed her by the arm.
  "Well, if you can't stay with us, it'd be preferable if you get back in more casual clothes. We were so excited to educate you in the Ahas way, but your duty is to be a good daughter for now." The tall Ahas said, low-key disappointed that the new girl couldn’t stay longer. "Remember that you have a sisterhood that'll be more than happy to welcome you back."
  Afardo had a hard time to smile as she came to realisation that she had to leave those women who accepted her and introduced her to pleasures she never experienced in her short life. The unknown girl that gave her oral was silently crying for some reason, hiding her tears behind her hands. Hony tried her best to not show her sadness. She decided to give a big hug to the departing girl, leaning in her ear to whisper something.
  "To contact us, focus your mind on our symbol. Remember this word, it'll be important. Jatama." Hony discreetly whispered before overtly kissing Afardo on the cheek and stepping back, "Take care, sister. May Ho give you the strength and fertility you deserve." She declared with a genuine smile.
  "Right, let's hurry up, our sister is on an important mission. You want to say something too, Hokisr?" Hohon asked, turning to the crying Ahas.
  "You tasted so good! Please come back quickly!" Hokisr bawled.
  Unaware of what just happened, the two humans were obviously confused by the last girl's statement but preferred to leave some mysteries to be unsolved. After a quick change of clothes, Afardo was then escorted by Markus and Karen through back alleys to avoid unwanted attention until they reached the harbour which was still recovering from the storm a few hours ago.
  "Ah shit. How are we going to find your mother's boat now?" Karen complained as she looked at the different boats docked.
  Marcus shook his head and pointed at a group of boats in the high sea.
  "She's a naval admiral, she'd probably be in a boat out in the sea, ready to face the Order's navy. Or maybe not? After all, her daughter disappeared during the storm?"
  Karen looked pretty annoyed about Markus who represented the admiral as a caring mother, when her first impression of the woman of a drunk looking officer who bossed people around, who was even going as far as slighting people without provocation. It reminded her of her own husband.
  "If she was so caring, wouldn’t she be out here, leaving no stone unturned? What kind of mother would constantly be drinking to the point of being drunk in front of the lord of a city?!"
  Afardo, who remained silent during their walk and the humans' argument, could faintly hear a familiar voice from afar. That's when she noticed a big hulking man's back surrounded by naval officers who were receiving orders from the giant. The missing daughter's eyes widened as she recognised the pile of muscle that was senior captain Artin. Unable to control herself, she let out a happy scream while extending her arms out of joy. Her voice attracted the attention, Karen noticed the girl's gaze and followed it to find what looked like the physical manifestation of the Greek god Apollo wearing a nice uniform, whose muscles and height made Markus look like a scrawny teenager next to him. Out of complacency, she waved at him with both hands.
  What Artin saw surprised him a bit as he was focused on forming search parties to find Afarin's adopted daughter who somehow managed to escape after the storm, though they both found it odd that she didn’t take anything with her, not even some clothes. After the feminine squeal, Artin noticed an odd trio composed of a lightly armoured person, a sizeable peasant and an Ahas wearing some rags that had what looked like some blood stains on it. The mercenary-looking guy was waving at him and the female Ahas had her arms extended as if she was trying to be as wide as the senior captain. His instinct pushed him to go meet the weirdos, the surrounding officers followed him with as much interest as him.
  "Hey, keep it down, it's too early in the morning for such ruckus." Artin sternly said before recognising the person the person he was looking for.
  "Artin! Hello guys! I'm so happy to see your faces!" Afardo exclaimed, unable to control herself.
  "I suppose that you're with the admiral, right? We found this young girl unconscious on the shore and decided to shelter her until she'd recover." Karen declared, cautious about the naval officers who were bunching up behind the big man who just talked.
  "Indeed and we're glad that you brought her back safe and sound. But I feel like it's too good to be true. What are you demanding in exchange for the girl's safety?"
  "Knowing that she's the child of someone very important, it would be foolish to attempt anything. We're just doing what's right." Marcus humbly replied with a slight bow.
  "Like I said, too good to be true. Now you, mercenary, what's your demand for young Afardo's return?" Artin asked to Karen.
  The human woman grunted, crossing her arms in some sort of protest.
  "Well, I'd demand that her mother take better care of her daughter. We found her during the night and it's only at dawn that she sends men to search for her? Very irresponsible."
  Artin stopped a captain who was about to draw his sword by a simple wave of the hand. The senior officer was used of having his superior getting a bad reputation in the eyes of the people of stature, he then supposed that the person in armour belonged to some kind of noble household and decided to take the insult personally since he was supposed to look after Afardo.
  "You're quite a mouthful, mercenary. I don’t like you, but maybe the admiral will excuse your insolence. Follow us." Artin demanded before turning to a person dressed in a blue robe. "Send the signal to end the search."
  "I thought it was impossible to cast spells in the city?" Marcus pointed out but got ignored.
  That's when he remembered that Lord stones could allow its user to use magic and that¡s what he saw the mage pointed his staff towards the sky. The two humans from earth first witnessed real magic. They could faintly see some kind of sparks coming out of the crystal before they concentrated at the top of the stone, becoming more visible and gaining an orangey tint which became warmer until it finally got launched high in the sky with a fizzling sound. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but the spectacle of seeing actual magic amazed the earthlings. Karen, who was a huge fan of fantasy stories, couldn’t help but have her jaw drop on the floor.
  "Yo! You saw that, Marcus?! That was so cool! We have to learn more about their magic stuff! I'm so gonna become a witch! Or a sorceress! Or a mage!" She exclaimed in English to a stunned Marcus.
  "First time? Well, let's meet the admiral." Captain Artin sniggered.
  Afardo was slightly less impressed by such simple spell but happily followed the Herikfer officers, holding Artin's arm like a child. The couple of humans regained their composure and embarked on a rowboat that took them to the admiral's laufer. They could observe the impressive flame launchers as well as three faces carved on the side of the ship, with the name of the person under. A young officer noticed the puzzled look of the two strangers and gladly explained who those three people were: previous admirals who fell in glorious battles for the fate of the Herik. Karen and Marcus once again met Afarin who looked a bit pale, leaning over the railing facing the harbour.
  "I saw the signal. Where is Afardo?" Afarin asked as soon as she was within hearing range.
  "Hello!" The missing girl cheerfully shouted.
  "Mother of the seas! You're alive! You better have an excuse as to why you tried to escape after the storm!" Afarin shouted back before removing her leather hat and pointing her hair. "Thanks to you, I got more white hairs than before! I was worried sick!"
  Marcus turned to Karen with an amused look on his face.
  "They seem normal like that, you wouldn’t think that she's an admiral of a royal fleet." He said in English.
  "Yeah, maybe she's not that bad after all?"
  Once they were finally onboard the vessel, Afarin pulled over a mage to have a medical inspection of Afardo's health and quickly discovered that she had small injuries that weren’t life threatening. The revelation made the adoptive mother let out a breath of relief before turning to the two people who had brought her back, removing her hat and holding it under her arm.
  "You have my thanks. You may not know, but you've secured the fate of the kingdom by bringing back my adopted daughter. What can I do to show you my gratitude?" Afarin asked, pulling Afardo to her for a hug. "She hasn’t caused you any problems, right? Right?"
  Marcus was the first one to react, shaking his head as a 'no'. His response pleased the admiral who relaxed around him, after all he was some kind of peasant who had some manners, on the other hand, the mercenary-looking person was still wearing his helmet. Afarin frowned at the passive rudeness and nodded at her senior captain who grunted and made his presence more imposing that it already was.
  "I know that you've probably never attended Valiamer naval academy, but it's common courtesy to remove one's head gear." The admiral explained, slightly irritated while showing her own hat under her arm.
  Karen sighed at the insisting look of Marcus who was trying his best to have the encounter go smoothly, silently reminding her of the reason why they accepted to bring back Afardo to her mother. Of course, the imposing hulking man behind her was one more reason to comply. The woman decided to remove her plate helmet, revealing her blonde hair in a circular movement of the head, somehow flaunting her well kept hair. Afarin felt slightly envious of the woman who didn’t have any white strands.
  "Better? My name is Smith, my friend here is Gogh. We aren’t asking for anything in return for finding your lost daughter. Except for one thing. Take better care of your daughter. We found her butt naked on the shore." Karen said with an extremely serious tone in her voice to hide her irritation.
  Finally releasing her adopted daughter, Afarin looked down before remembering that she was still in front of her men, not wanting to look weak, she raised her head with a confident look.
  "You may not ave noticed, but there was a storm recently. I took the proper measure to ensure her safety, but the Mother of the seas thought otherwise. Don’t make assumptions when you know nothing about it. Anyway, I'll give you compensations for the troubles you went through to bring Afardo back to me."
  The word compensation rang a bell in Karen's head, while Marcus, who was too busy to be distracted by the whole picturesque atmosphere of the ship, that he didn’t notice the smile drawing on the face of the bossy woman who began talking quickly.
  "Well, if you insist so much on compensating us, we'd like to have your support on our enterprise. While Lord Olf is a generous man, we still struggle to make ends meet in Premer. Our workers need food to survive and we barely have any income to feed them all. If you could… I don’t know… help us get a status that would allow our enterprise to function properly?"
  The look of her officers made the admiral soften up, knowing that some had families who struggled to survive even when they sent their salary to them. A discreet nod of Artin pushed Afarin to lend some help and with a sorry sigh, she gave in.
  "You did take care of my daughter, that's the least I could do." She conceded. "But you have to know that Lord Olf and I are in a disagreement. I won’t be able to make him grant you citizenship or a plot of land, but I can give you a merchant token of the admiral fleet. It'll lower significantly trading taxes with the city and give you access to materials deemed necessary for the royal fleet, that includes provisions. Usually it's given to the logistic team when we need to stock up on provisions or need repairs, but I guess I'll make an exception." Afarin explained, showing a silver medal the size of her palm. "I'd prefer to keep it on myself at all time, so I'll lend it to you today so that you can get what you need and then give it back once you're done. I don’t know how long we'll stay here, but I can assure you that, as long as we're here, you'll get access to it."
  "That's very generous and we gladly accept it as a show of good faith. You won’t regret putting your trust on us."
  Captain Artin showed his discomfort of having such important object given to total stranger, though he understood the gesture. Thankfully for him, his superior noticed his subtle frown and nodded at him with a focused look on her face as she retracted the token before Karen could reach it.
  "I do have one condition. You'll have to have at least one of my men with you as long as you'll be in possession of this very valuable item. Is that clear?"
  "Wouldn’t have it any other way. We're willing to show that we're trustworthy, admiral." Marcus eagerly thanked, earning a content smile and the token from the high ranking officer.
  "Gogh, are you related to our dear senior captain Artin? You're the juvenile version of him." One of the captain jokingly asked. "Didn’t know you shagged a lady. Haha!"
  The officers giggled aside from the imposing man and the admiral who hid her amusement behind her hat. Barely understanding the banter, the two earthling watched in silence while Afardo stared at nothing with a stupid smile on her face, probably thinking of her ritual. After that the laughs faded, a young captain was assigned to escort Marcus and Karen for their shopping spree, the man was barely over eighteen, which made the whole expedition awkward for everyone involved since Karen was in her thirties and Markus was in his mid twenties, making them way older than the young person in a shiny uniform.

[Cath]

Chapter 29: fucking hardcore
  The afternoon was usually quiet in Jacob's big apartment, being empty from its residents who were off to work. Except that the living room was filled with the long obnoxious noise of an hair dryer that was about to finish its task. A petite redhead wearing a military fatigue, and an annoyed look, was about to be done with cleaning a fabric couch. Behind the small woman stood an embarrassed young man with short brown hair, rubbing the back of his neck with a sorry expression.
  "And... that should take care of most of the problem." Amy declared, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead with her free hand.
  "Thanks a lot, Amy. I’m not used to washing that kind of stuff." Daniel apologies for the Nth time.
  Despite having spent quite a lot of time mixing cleaning solutions to facilitate the removal of the cum stains, the small redhead felt some accomplishment from getting over the whole ordeal. She turned to face him, her clenched fists on her hips.
  "Don’t sweat it. Had to learn how to clean stains on cloth when I was deployed in Hericart. Royalties are quite dirty when they eat. I read in your file that you helped in a an animal farm when you were younger, that surprised me that you didn’t know how to clean stains." She proudly declared, puffing her small chest in the process.
  Daniel was about to politely laugh at her remark but quickly stopped at the mention of having some kind of file about himself.
  "Wait... a file?"
  "Yeah, the Order made a full background check when they decided to wether or not give you a shit ton of money for your silence about whatever incident happened. It must have been something small enough to warrant a bribe instead of a... you know..." the girl said, imitating the guillotine with her hand.
  "And you give shit to Abby when she calls your company a mafia." The young man sighed, wanting to sit down but remembering that the couch just finished drying.
  "Oh please! As if the Argo was any better. A decent amount of board members are Order turn coats. You're like the coast guard while we're the army. Speaking of army, I also read that you failed the physical tests? You don’t look physically weak. Was that the tiny heart disease?" Amy asked inquisitively, leaning forward so much that the pistol grip poked from underneath the fabric.
  Being slightly distracted by the fact that Amy had still her gun on her even after taking bath, Daniel reflexively glanced at the bugle under her left armpit and momentarily forgot about the questions.
  "Um... well, I actually didn’t prepare much. And what's with all these questions?" Dan managed to ask after regaining his focus. "In fact, I should be asking questions in return, since you’re in a give-and-take mentality."
  "How about I suck your dick?" Amy abruptly asked.
  "I... what?"
  "Yeah, you heard me." She seriously insisted, raising a hand to mimic a blowjob.
  "Out of the blue? Just like that? No foreplay or teasing?" A very concerned young man asked, still not used of such forward requests.
  The redhead rolled her eyes in exasperation before slightly pulling down the zipper of her jacket, revealing a white tank top. Instead of continuing to open her outfit, she fanned herself with the side of clothing, sighing out of discomfort before narrowing her eyes, as if she was seeing through him.
  "I’m just messing with you. I wouldn’t just fuck you because I feel like it, you know?"
  "That includes the spit roast with Jack and me?"
  Remembering their interesting threesome, Amy pretended to not care, shrugging and acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. She was in need of a good hard fuck after having spent a lot of stressful days in Avila, and Daniel was the only one around at the time.
  "Well he’s got a bigger dick than you and knows how to use it. If you wanted more of my attention, you’d have asked your not-girlfriend to teach you." She explained as if it was common sense.
  "Hey! That’s just mean." Dan replied.
  Amy smirked and pulled out her tongue before completely removing her jacket, revealing her gun holster, under her armpit, that she immediately dropped on the couch. Daniel was a bit annoyed by the rudeness of the petite woman who decided to get out of her military clothes for some reason, highlighting her cute chest under her white tank top by crossing her arms under her boobs.
  "Oh? And what are you going to do about it? I'd totally let you fuck me with your big fat cock if you had more experience. Alas you've only got my ass, cumming in me after a couple of strokes. Maybe ask your Abby to stop acting like a starfish when you fuck and maybe, just maybe, you'd know how to please a real woman." Amy giggled while slowly swaying her small tits.
  "Leave Abby out of this, that’s not cool." Daniel sternly said with a menacing look as he stepped forward.
  The young man was visibly upset about the berating of his friend, who was more like sex friends this point. Feeling like he was at the breaking point already, the girl decided to push even harder, commencing by rubbing her legs against his groin.
  "What's the matter? You don’t like when I talk shit about your fuck buddy?" She taunted, getting closer to him as well. "You don’t like that a better woman berate your little toy?" Amy snickered while contouring the shape of his member, groping Dan's crotch with a sensual moan. "You're just gonna let me trash talk your personal pussy? Or are you going to prove me that your thick hard cock can please women?" She goaded him, feeling his member harden from her touch. "Are you going to tame me? Show me who's the boss around here? Take me right here, right now?"
  Despite the provocations, Daniel didn’t give in to his instinct of shoving Amy back on the couch and teach her a lesson of humility but he couldn’t deny the fact that her fingers worked like charm to make him hard. The young man decided to close his eyes and focus on his breathing, ignoring the clear signs of the girl who wanted to play rough. Thankfully for him, Amy was decent enough to not force the matter anymore and reluctantly let go of his manhood with a disappointed sigh.
  "I’m impressed. I thought you were the easily influenced type." Amy declared while getting dressed. "My offer still holds, from the phone call a week ago. Give me a holler if you want to hook up. And this time, I'll show you what I’m really about."
  "You're insatiable, aren’t you? I’m not really into rough sex and like you said, I’m not very experienced either. I'm really fond of Abby and making love to her is really special for me. With you, it's been..." Daniel said before getting interrupted by someone ringing on the doorbell.
  Since the person outside was insistent, Dan decided to answer, first by looking through the peephole. He was immediately shocked to see three men armed to the teeth, with their mouth covered by a grey bandana. Even if it was from a quick glance, he easily noticed the military-like gears, such as ballistic helmets, plate carriers, and most importantly, their rifle. His panicked reaction made Amy draw her pistol and taking covered behind the wall nearby.
  "What's the situation?" The girl whispered.
  "There's some fucking guys with AR15 or something. They looks like commandos and shit!" the young man said while beginning to panic, breathing faster than usual.
  His fear seemed a bit contagious, Amy was holding her chest, trying to control her breathing by counting seconds in her head. Managing to keep her cool, she kneeled and pointed her gun at the door, ready to shoot. Daniel's legs, on the other hand, were shaking as his mind was racing, thinking of all the possible solutions to the problem. He thought about calling the police, but their phone were in another room. They could barricade themselves, but having no escape route was another big problem. Maybe he could ambush one and steal his gun, but having no experience with neither hand-to-hand combat or shooting an actually rifle would probably lead to disaster. Then he heard a voice from behind the door.
  "Yo, Amy! Open up! We've received your message." A man with a deep voice announced.
  Daniel was a bit relieved and turned to the woman to ask if these armed people actually knew her, to his dismay, Amy looked like she didn’t know a thing as she was extremely focused on keeping her pistol pointed at the door. Not even waving his arms seemed to distract the girl who seemed frozen in place, as if she was entranced. The person outside rang a few more times without any response.
  "Someone remembered the safe word again? It was about food or something?" Dan could hear, with some muffled voices arguing as to what the safe word was.
  The people outside seemed to have been distracted as Dan took the opportunity to confirm it by using the peephole. Despite not being the centre of the attention, he didn’t observe too much, only making sure that they weren’t anywhere near the door. He carefully stepped towards Amy's firing position and gently touched her shoulder, immediately startling her and gathering her attention on him.
  "Sounds like they got a message from you, they seemed to have forgotten about some kind of safe word. Something about food?"
  "Zucchini? Wait... maybe they aren’t hostiles. Let me just make sure that they aren’t." Amy said before going towards the door and spying on the outsiders.
  Thankfully for the both of them, those armed people were acquainted with the ginger woman who was still a bit suspicious.
  "What's on the grocery list?" She articulated so that the people outside could clearly understand her.
  "Ah! Yes! The grocery list! We've got everything except the zucchini for the soup."
  Amy let out a sigh of relief, lowering her pistol and reassuring Daniel at the same time.
  "Hey, Moore, what took you so long to answer?" The person with the deep voice asked.
  "Being cautious. I don’t remember messaging anyone." Amy replied, still a bit suspicious.
  "Because you didn’t. You've been spotted entering this flat, it's confirmed Argo territory. We want to make sure that everything's alright. You haven’t been manipulated by their agent Morena, right?"
  Even Daniel found that the question was stupid, groaning with Amy at the man behind the door.
  "Are you fucking stupid? Even if I was, how would you know if I told you the truth?! This apartment is the last place those traitors would think to find a loyalist, now fuck off before you give away my hideout!"
  The three people in the hallway exchanged some words, though inaudible from inside the apartment, but still it sounded like they were agreeing on something.
  "Sounds about right. Just making sure. You wouldn’t be fucking the people living in there, would you? Because that's exactly what would prove your non manipulated status."
  Daniel managed to catch Amy glancing at him, both remembering that the small woman had tried to convince the young guy to fuck her on the couch.
  "I was about to when you fucking interrupted us. You almost made my dude shit his pants, and mine as well. Now fuck off, I've got some stress to relieve thanks to you."
  "Sure, sure. By the way, two of the traitor shell companies in the area are called Marronas and the other is Aubrun, that last one still managed to get access to our database before we shut everything down. Be careful, Moore, they already sent your uncle to the hospital." The deep voice said before leaving.
  Upon hearing the news, Amy felt pretty bad, her uncle was the one who gave her a job in the Order when she dropped out of college because of the expensive loans. Despite recently having an argument with her, Daniel couldn’t help but empathise with the sad looking girl and decided that a hug wouldn’t hurt. He wasn’t wrong about it, quickly getting hugged back, he stroked the back of her head as he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. The scene reminded him of the night he lost his virginity to Abby, both moments were about consoling a saddened woman. A side effect of the flashback was that it also reminded him on how good it felt to taste the tanned girl, the pictures of them being very passionate made something excited, namely his dick that poked Amy who immediately stopped embracing Dan to stare at him in silence.
  "Well, that's awkward..." they both thought to themselves.
  "You... seem to be in a good mood for some reason. You're into misery porn or something?" A perplexed Amy asked, trying not to stare.
  "I don’t think so. Look, it's really weird to say this but... Abby and I first started to have sex when we both felt a bit down. Like, she confessed to me and I acted stupidly, hurting her feelings and it made me feel awful and... " Daniel tried to explain, feeling it only made things more awkward. "Ugh... who am I kidding? I’m sure you don’t believe me."
  The awkward honesty made Amy chuckle, to the dismay of the young man.
  "Don’t worry, I’ve heard worse. Well maybe we can see if it'll make me feel better?" Amy proposed, trying to smile convincingly. "No wait, it'll make me feel like I’m a psychopath who fucks to forget her problems. Let's just... I don’t know... "
  "With Abby, we'd usually order some pizza and watch some series on the tv on our free time. But we barely know each other so it's a bit awkward."
  The sudden realisation made them feel even more awkward. After all, they fucked twice and had some small talk without learning anything about each other. Daniel's comment made his boner quickly disappear, having sex with total strangers was against his principles and yet he did it twice, making feel more disgusted with himself. Meanwhile, Amy had no real problem with it, but looking at his grimacing face made her temporarily forget about the possible threats. The young redhead finally decided to put away her gun and cough to attract his attention, which it did. Having experience with quite a lot of men, she quickly guessed that he was what she called "vanilla type", the kind of person who'd settle for a exclusive relation with only one acquainted partner. The woman extended her hand with a friendly expression.
  "You’re right. It might be a little late for the presentation, but let's start with the basics." Amy said, trying to reassure the young man in front of her. "Hi! I'm Amy Moore. Nice to meet you."
  Daniel could visibly see that the girl was trying to make it less awkward and appreciated it. With a genuine smile, he extended his hand as well and shook hers.
  "Nice to meet you, I'm Daniel Tonq. I like your haircut."
  Having completely forgotten to comb her hair after her bath, Amy completely forgot to curl her hair nor did she find anything to do so. The redhead giggled to hide the slight embarrassment. Daniel meekly smiled at her, finding the shy act endearing.
  "Thanks. I like your blue eyes, they look quite unique."
  "Haha. Thank you too. How about we take a seat? Want something to drink?"
  Amy giggled at his friendly attention, deciding to spent a few hours to get to know each other after getting into more casual wear, consisting of a pair of skinny jeans and a thick cotton shirt. The situation was a bit different from her usual flings with who she would just try to at least remember their name, face and genitals, though when it was for work, she'd put a lot of efforts to remember everything. As for Daniel, casually talking to the cute redhead in front of him was refreshing, not that he was bored with Abby, but the tan wild girl had an aura of exoticism that made her feel overwhelming at times. Whereas Amy came of as a city girl who tends to be more independent, being able to stand for herself and work her way to get what she wants.
  "Having a boyfriend? Hah. I dunno, too much work and too restrictive, you know? Well unless he's rich, I don’t feel like investing too much time on that." The girl explained during their conversation, waving her hand as if to accentuate her speech.
  Of course, Daniel was listening attentively, discovering new layers of the girl's personality, unlike Abby's which he still hasn’t figured it out yet. His sex friend often felt out of place, revealing deep knowledge on Avila but often being clueless about recent internet trends of the decade, despite having a high end portable computer. The young man was even more surprised when he learnt that the tan girl had no idea of what Instagram was. On the other hand, Amy’s profile on that platform was filled of pictures of her in bikinis, though she was posing decently, more like happy holiday memories, rather than thirst trap.
  "I can understand what you're saying. After seeing all your friends having messy breakups, I too wouldn’t want to date someone." Dan nodded.
  For some reason, the redhead was acting more and more different than when they first met, even some hints of Californian accent could be noticed.
  "Yeah! And besides, even finding someone who's into a polyamorous kind of relation is pretty hard. You know... Now I think that I understand why your crush didn’t want to go out with you. You're pretty new to the whole ‘sleeping around' and I also think it's preferable that you gain more experience before settling down." Amy admitted, feeling slightly uncomfortable to agree with Abby's mindset. "Having a partner is fine and all, but having an experienced ones is, like, the best."
  Daniel was a bit amused to see that the cute redhead was opening up to him, not that she was closed shut to begin with. Amy was clearly an extrovert, from how she talked and accompanied her words with hand gestures that would accentuate what she was talking about.
  "Oh come on, you aren’t going to talk like Abby now?" Daniel joked. "Well, it's just that she's been so nice and affectionate with me since our reunion, that I feel like I’m falling for her. She's beautiful, funny and a little wild from time to time. But I really like that side of her."
  "And that’s exactly what I explained earlier." Amy exclaimed, thinking back to their previous conversation. "Vanilla types like you think like that about the first girls they managed to sleep with. They'll say that they're all cute, funny and quirky or whatever. I’m sure that if you hung out a bit longer with even me, you'd say the same. Like, one of my longest interested relations once said that I was honest, cute, strong and reliable. And I was in for his access to an important infrastructure, dude was shocked when I dumped him after finishing my real business. But back to you, big D. If you just give positive adjectives to describe how you feel about a girl, it feels bland." She ranted. "Like, not even cheesy. Just meaningless."
  Daniel had heard Amy mention the 'types' quite a lot during their conversation, even if he could slightly grasp what it meant, his curiosity was piked. On another note, he bet that if she had any bubblegum, she'd be constantly chewing on it as they were talking, giving her some kind of haughty demeanour.
  "How many types are there anyway?"
  "There are a lot. But from my experience, I’ve met some vanilla slash romantic ones, some kinky ones, that includes BDSM and other niche things. I’ve got a fair share of adventurers, who try new things. But the most people I fucked with were the lustful type, easily enticed to fuck me, anywhere, at any time and in every hole. Your friend, big dick Jacob, is in that category, well, was in that category."
  Amy sighed at the loss of one of her sexual partner, seemingly disappointed.
  "Now he's a vanilla one?" Daniel asked, visibly invested in her explanations as he wanted to know more on how to better understand people.
  "Well, if he's dead set on fulfilling his challenge, I’d say he's in one of the chaste type. Those guys are tough nuts to crack, but with enough patience and determination, they become beasts. Like, one fucked me so much and so hard that it bleached my asshole. Wanna see?" Amy joked, feigning to get up.
  "That's fine! And beside, I saw it when we... had a threesome." Daniel said, hesitating to finish his sentence as to not offend Amy.
  "You know, I wouldn’t mind getting spit roasted again. Even though I’m not big on group sex, I prefer one on one sessions. Easier to control the flow, you know? Too bad your friend is trying hard to impress a girl."
  Following the girl's advice, Daniel decided to push a bit so that he could get more sexual experience. The chances for a second threesome were slim but not inexistent.
  "Then what about one of the guys who passed by a few hours ago? You seem to be acquainted enough to speak so freely like that."
  "As thrilling as workplace sex might sound, I don’t really want to do that especially when I got some family members in the organisation. Like, there’s my uncle, two cousins, my father and some in-laws. Family meetings would be a pain in the ass to deal with if I ever fucked with a colleague."
  Even if Amy slept around, she still didn’t like to show her private life to her parents, which reassured Daniel for some reason.
  "I get that you don’t want to, but what about the guys you work with? Haven’t they hit on you at least once?"
  "What do you mean?"
  Despite having fucked the tanned Abby numerous times, his preferences were still redheads and gingers. So explaining the reasons why came naturally.
  "Well, you're pretty cute, you're smaller than the average girl, which urges me the need to protect you and care about. Your fiery hair makes you look warm and welcoming, which makes a nice contrast with the milky tone of your skin. On top of that, your freckles makes you look even cuter."
  Amy was visibly surprised by his comments on her appearance and could hide her cheeks reddening from his compliment. After all, she was more used to dirty talking and rough sex than compliments and caress.
  "Oh my! Are you trying to seduce me?" Amy nervously laughed.
  "That would mean that I’m putting some efforts, but this comes naturally just by looking at your cute face."
  The blushing girl saw through his intentions and gave Dan a devilish smile, showing the young man that his plans were discovered.
  "And here I thought you only wanted one girl. You aren’t trying to get a threesome with Abby and me, by any chance?"
  Being found out, Daniel sighed and decided to do some damage control after that his second brain had taken control of his body.
  "I’m not sure it would ever happen, Abby doesn’t seem to really like you, so I’m afraid that you two would be too busy trying to strangle each other."
  The mere mention of being strangled made Amy's nipples erect, slightly poking under the thick fabric of her shirt. Thankfully for her, the young man sitting in front of her seemed too focused on imagining what would happen if those two women would accept to fuck with him.
  "Well... if you really want a threesome with two women, maybe I could convince your girl? In exchange, I’d ask for a nice warm bath with scent candles and breakfast in bed. Sounds fair?"
  Dan hesitated a bit, thinking that it was a bit too easy to convince Amy, then he remembered that it didn’t take much for her to accept blowing him and Jacob some days ago. Letting his second brain decide what to do, he nodded to accept her proposition.
  "Sure. You want some specific scent?"
  "You're too easy, thick D. But if you actually do, I’d like some bright citrus, some sweet floral ones and maybe a couple of vanilla. Is that okay for you?"
  "Sure, sounds good too."
  "Great! What about a bath bomb too? No need for something fancy."
  "Um... why not? You really like a relaxing bath, don’t you?"
  "Taking a long and relaxing bath is such a luxury. Oh! And maybe some classical music for the ambiance, what do you think?"
  "Yeah, might as well go all the way if you want your relaxing bath moment. Want some cucumber and a clay mask?"
  "You read my mind!" She exclaimed with a smile. "But can I ask for one last thing?"
  "Sure, go ahead! It's actually pretty fun to think about that kind of stuff."
  Amy's genuine smile quickly turned devious as she leaned over the table with a mischievous look. Daniel didn’t realise her trick to manipulate him as he watched her crawl on the table, thinking that she wanted to whisper something in his ear but she stopped, her cute face almost touching his.
  "I want you to fuck me on this table. I want you to choke me while you ram your big fat cock inside my throbbing pussy." Amy said, before getting on her knees on the table. "I’ve been aching for a dick since I came back. I want you to take me right here, right now." She begged, spreading her legs to reveal a wet spot between her thighs.
  Thankfully for the lustful redhead, Dan's body was still being controlled by his third leg. And as if he was being possessed, he plunged his face between her legs, right on her crotch, and proceeded in unzipping her pants with his teeth, revealing her soaked white plain panties that was imprinted on her dripping cunt. Amy smirked at the result of her conditioning of the young man, leaning back on the table so that he could easily handle her petite figure. Daniel clumsily pulled down his pants while the girl was lying on the surface of the furniture. After getting rid of the clothes that were hiding his hard member, he eagerly removed her skinny jeans and pulled away the soaked panties to make way for his big rod as his hand guided the member towards her slit.
  "Yeah, that’s it! Push that fat dick inside my tight pussy! I want to feel it all the way down my... !" Amy hungrily said before gasping as the tip of Dan's cock parted her lips, already stretching her with his meat.
  "Damn... you're so wet down here... " he whispered as he was slowly pushing in is thick cock.
  Despite wanting to be fucked roughly, Amy enjoyed the long stroke of such massive member down her well lubricated hole, it was so enjoyable that she curled her toes and covered her mouth as she held a moan. The handsome young man's balls finally reached the already quivering cunt of the cute redhead, he took the time to let out a sigh of relief after feeling every inches of Amy's tight pussy that stretched with his member. The sensation was too much for the experienced girl who instantly came on his thick dick, coating it with her white fluids. The fact that the ginger girl was already coming after such a short period of time gave Dan the encouragement to begin what he wanted to do to her when he saw her aroused cunt.
  "This cock isn’t only for you." He whispered to her ear before pulling back far enough to allow him to ram back his meaty cock deep inside her hole, prompting a feminine gasp and yet another orgasm.
  "Fu...!" The overwhelmed Amy exclaimed before getting mercilessly pounded by Dan's fat member. "Jesu...!" She tried to say before feeling the young man's hands around her neck, immediately feeling overjoyed by what was going to happen.
  Despite being a gentle person, Daniel wasn’t someone who wouldn’t let down someone's expectation and he decided to lightly choke the redhead in heat, feeling better when he saw that she was furiously rubbing her clit as she was grasping for air. His big dick was still pounding the abused cunt that gripped its shaft tightly. To spice things up, the young stud firmly held Amy's small breast, pinching her nipple and sending waves of pleasures through her whole body. The submitted woman was more than pleased by such harsh treatment, coming more and more on the abusive cock that was constantly penetrating her drenched cunt while also pinching her own perky tit. Daniel was self conscious enough to release her throat, allowing her to properly breath in and moan desperately as she began to abuse her body even more.
  "Yes! Yes! Fuck yes! Treat me like a worthless whore! Fuck me hard Dan!" Amy screamed as she pinched her nipple and slapped her clit.
  "Oh fuck! Abby you're so tight!" Yelled with his eyes closed, too focused on shoving his throbbing cock down Amy's quivering cunt.
  Even though she was eagerly pleasing herself, she couldn’t help but hear the wrong name. And before she could give a cosmetic protest, the table started rocking as Daniel was then bucking his hips hard, slamming his sweaty balls against Amy's reddened slit. The idea of complaining soon disappeared, only to be replaced by animalistic moans while the sound of slapping flesh and creaking table filled the kitchen once more. The man's hands were tightly gripping the girl's hips so firmly that his nails slightly dug in her skin, drawing drops of blood, but she didn’t seem to care, if not enjoy even more the brutal pounding of her cunt.
  "Yes! That's it! Call me Abby! Fuck me like that bitch!" Amy yelled between moans.
  Daniel opened his eyes and realised that he wasn’t fucking with the beautiful tan woman but with the petite redhead. He felt some anger from having the young girl pretending to be his sex friend and decided to violently slam Amy's hips against his, continuing to pound her with the same intensity. The both of them seemed unaware of the dangerous squeaking and movements of the table, rocking back and forth from the brutal activity of these two.
  "You like that, huh?! You like being my personal fleshlight?!"
  "Yes! Destroy my pussy with your big fat cock!" Amy yelled, craving for more rough treatments.
  Daniel obliged even though he couldn’t go any harder, especially when he faintly heard the squeaking noises of the table. He opted for a less rhythmic pounding, slow line pulling out only to violently ram his thick cock back in Amy's throbbing hole, making her squeal with pleasure every time she felt his tip hit the back of her womb.
  "Take. This. You. Bitch!" Dan explained, punctuating every word with his dick deep in her tight snatch.
  "Yes! Fuck! Keep going!" Amy screamed while being railed.
  The slight feeling of guilt for fucking a girl other than Abby was still present, but she didn’t let him ever do that sort of thing, so he was going to enjoy as much as he could.  Daniel made sure to throw his hips at Amy's, he felt like he was going to break his pelvis before the table, but the list filled face of the petite redhead was enough for him to continue until he felt his member twitch as he was pulling out.
  "Shit, I’m about to cum!" Dan said, out of breath.
  "Then what are you waiting for? You think I want you to fuck me up just to pull out? Fucking fill me up, dude!" Amy ranted before wrapping her legs around his waist in a way too familiar scene for Dan.
  "As you wish, bitch!" Daniel replied with a powerful buck from his hips.
  Amy moaned as she felt Dan's cum fill her ravaged cunt, flooding her hole as if she was but a cum bucket. The ginger's legs shook wildly, letting go of the man's waist as he collapsed on her, breathing heavily while covered in sweat. Unlike Abby, the cute redhead didn’t even think of kissing the lover after such intense session, which Daniel kind of regretted.
  "Damn... Thick D, you’ve got some untapped potential for a hard fuck. No wonder that bitch Abby cares about you." Amy managed to say after recovering from the whole workout.
  "Thanks?" Dan replied while lying in the girl and still trying to catch his breath. "Didn’t know you were in that kind of stuff."
  "My dude, I fucking love being pounded by big hard cocks. Don’t think that I’m a slut or anything, but a good fuck is always appreciated." Amy explained, gently rubbing her abused cunt with her hand, slightly brushing against Dan's shaft.
  "Oh, sorry. Want me to pull out?"
  "Well your dick isn’t hard anymore, so yeah? Also, I feel like we need a shower now. I reek of cum and sweat!"
  Out of cheer stupidity, Dan sniffed his armpit before remembering that he was on top of Amy, realising his position, he finally pulled out and got back up. From his position, he could clearly see the mess he made, with his cum leaking from a reddened slit. With a grunt, the petite woman got on her feet though she could barely stand as her crotch was aching. She stood like a cartoonish cowboy with her legs arched to make an upside down 'U'.
  "Damn, Thick D. You'll have to carry me to the bathroom, I don’t think I can walk." Amy chuckled, looking at her burning nether regions. "I can’t believe I’m aching like a virgin on her first anal session."
  "I... what?" Asked a very confused Dan who couldn’t help but stare at the puddle of spunk that was forming under the girl.
  Thankfully for Amy, she noticed it too and decided to step aside, almost slipping on the cum on the floor. Being too kind, Daniel decided to help the girl by carrying her on his back, feeling a trail of goo running down his spine as the petite woman holding him tightly. The sight of a naked young man giving a piggyback to a similarly nude young girl would have shocked most people, thankfully for these two, nobody was around to witness them.
  One uneventful shower later where they didn’t talk with each other, the weird pair were sitting on couch that was finally dry. Daniel had turned on the tv, putting on a random channel with animal documentaries. Not wanting to act like an asocial, Amy sat on his right and continued making acquaintance with the friendly guy.
  "So, you like animals?" The redhead asked to break their silence.
  "Yeah, I guess?" Daniel relied, uncertain of what to answer.
  Despite the weird atmosphere, Amy decided to act relaxed.
  "Cool, cool. You got Snapchat or something? That way we can still keep in touch, outside from my burner number."
  Daniel wasn’t familiar with that, but his best friend Jacob did mention using it when a crazy girl would try to get his number.
  "That was your burner number? Then why did you answer the phone call back then?" He asked, slightly confused.
  Realising that the young man had a point, Amy wondered on what to answer.
  "Good question. I guess I was so desperate for any contact with the civilised world that I kept both of my phones on me." Amy replied, remembering what led to her answering the call. "Oh yeah, that reminds me. If you ever end up fucking an Ahan, make sure that they don’t bite you by accident." Amy joked.
  "That explains the bite marks, then." Dan exclaimed, staring at the two scars.
  Brushing her fingers in her neck, Amy felt the two little bumps on her skin, sending a flashback of how she got those.
  "Oh, those? I forgot to heal them, they'll disappear in a couple of hours then. You know, if you join the Order, maybe Mother will give you a gift. She can be quite generous to those who are loyal to her."
  With the few information about Amy's background, Daniel was pretty sure that the redhead wouldn’t call her mom as 'Mother', so that word piked his curiosity.
  "I don’t suppose that this 'Mother' of yours is your actual mom. That's your big boss, isn’t it? Is she the woman of green?"
  Impressed by his deduction skill, Amy clicked her tongue and did the finger gun gesture towards Daniel.
  "Bullseye. Miss Brown's code name is 'Mother' for those fortunate enough to get a gift from her. You know, with those bright blue eyes of yours, you might even get some good powers from her." Amy declared, staring at his eyes with an amused look.
  "I don’t switch my loyal that easily, Amy."
  "Cute. Now then, for our threesome, what can you tell me about your lady's kinks?"